I'll Follow You To Hell
by Cicilicious
Summary: His breath hitched as she took his arms and guided them to wrap around her waist. Her own arms snaked around his shoulder and she held him tightly. He felt faint. Surely, this was a dream. It was too perfect. She was too perfect. Things like this just didn't happen to him. He didn't deserve it. She was too good for him. Loosely based off the manga, set after the anime.
1. Chapter 1

**Based loosely off of the manga but mostly off of the anime.**

**Chrona is a boy.**

It had been well over six months since anyone had last seen Maka. If asked where she was, no one could give a definite answer. Every time they received a letter or post card from her, which was fairly often, they always seemed to be from a different city or country than the last one. She often sent gifts as well. Exotic treasures from where ever she was at that particular time. She had sent earrings to Liz from France, wooden animal cravings to Patti from Africa, outstandingly symmetrical decorative wall hangings to Kidd from China, natural herbal body scrubs to Tsubaki from Japan, figurines of bears or lions to Black Star (with an attached note, informing him they were symbols of power) from Alaska, and always some kind of small new instrument to Soul from where ever she could find them. He often wondered if they were actually meant to be played, or if they were more for show than anything. Either way, her gifts were always very well appreciated and the attached letters were also a nice treat.

Once the kishen was defeated, everything went quiet almost immediately. There were still the occasional pre-kishens that popped up here and there, but it was nothing that couldn't be kept under control. It almost seemed like they were afraid to continue down there dark paths after seeing what awaited them at the end. It was around this time that Maka had decided to leave and join her Mother.

It wasn't something that she just randomly decided to do. After learning of what happened during the battle with Kishen Asura, how Maka how activated her weapon blood while she was unconscience, Shinigami-sama took much interest in the phenomenon. A lot of people did, student and staff alike. A meister with weapon blood.

Of course, Maka had no recollection of the event, being unconscience for the whole thing. Had Kidd not been just barely awake enough to keep an eye open and witnessed the whole thing, it probably would still have been unknown. He relaid the events to his father, along with a few other staff members, including Maka's father. He told them that, not only could she turn into a weapon, her skills were on par with her father's. She could materialize scythes from all over her body.

The news was exciting and fascinating. Shinigami-sama was absolutely giddy about the fact that they had essentially discovered a new kind of fighter, not to mention she was already considered Shibusen's best. He said the best thing to do at that point was to take full advantage and train her to utilize her new found ability. He asked her if that's what she would want, and she agreed. Spirit insisted that he would be the best one to teach his daughter about her new powers, but Shinigami had other plans. In a private, he revealed to her that, although she wasn't around the academy anymore, Maka's mother still was a meister and still worked for him. He said that he felt she was the best option to train her daughter. Maka's mother could offer her things that her father just couldn't. She wasn't bound to Death City like Spirit basically was. They could travel together, learn about themselves together, and although she wasn't a weapon herself, Kami used to be a teacher there, once upon a time, and she worked with new weapons, teaching them how to harness their powers. He said that he'd already discussed it with her and she 100 percent in favor of the decision. Maka was more than eager to accept as well. This wasn't just a reunion, this was a mission.

The two of them had been traveling the world together since then. Everyone was sad to see her go, but they supported her decision. Everyone knew how much she missed her mother and how important a mission like this was, and they knew it would certainly not be the last time they saw there friend.

They had thrown her a party the night before she left, at Kidd's house. All of their friends had come to bid her a sorrowful farewell. She had promised to be back, and they had promised to still be here waiting for her. That was more of a formality than anything. They knew she'd return, and she knew they weren't going anywhere. Despite the fact that pre-kishens had been far less than they used to be, they were still out there, and they all still had a job to do. And it had been decided that since it was Maka who was credited with the ultimate downfall of kishen Asura, she deserved some time off. It was quite the hot topic, after the fight, that she had dealt the final blow, not with her special technique, as everyone had predicted, but with a hard punch to the face.

Many pictures were taken at that going away party and compiled into a photo album, which each of them signed and wrote a nice little note for their friend. She considered it the greatest present she'd ever received. But there was one thing about that album that troubled everyone. Not one of the photos in that book had Soul in them. Because he didn't attend.

Maka and Soul had already discussed that they would stay partners no matter what. That fact that she had weapon blood wouldn't change anything. When it came right down to it, she was a meister, not a weapon. He agreed to wait for her until she returned from her mission. He made it very clear that he was not at all interested in partnering with someone else.

It upset Maka to no end when she realized he wasn't coming. She had been very close to tears, gripping the skirt of her short, pink, fit and flare party dress until her knuckles were white in an effort to keep her tears back, her loose hair hung in her face. She was being comforted by Tsubaki, and she over heard Kidd, Black Star and Liz discussing why he wasn't there, could anyone get ahold of him, and if she started crying because of this, they would kick his ass.

"You know what I think?" Patti was suddenly in front of Maka, holding out to her a plate of a few of Maka's favorite sweets. "I think that he's not here because he doesn't want you to leave. If he came, he'd start crying and that wouldn't be good for his 'cool guy' image. He's probably at home crying right now!"

Maka smiled slightly, blinking away the tears that had started to form. Suddenly, Kidd was there too with his arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, Patti's right." He said smiling. "You know he cares about you, and to be here would just make him sadder about you leaving."

"Baaahhhh! I'm sad about you leaving too!" Patti yelled, throwing her arms around the scythe meister. A laugh was shared among them. Maka cheered up after that. She decided that, although she would've liked Soul to be there, she had plenty of other friends that were here. This night wasn't ruined. She would be catching a plane tomorrow, so she would enjoy her friends now. But there was someone else who wasn't there. Someone she really did want to see one more time.

It really was a great party. Her friends were passing an old polaroid camera around, taking pictures, writing notes on them, and handing them to Kidd, who was arranging them all in perfect symmetry within an album they bought for her. They enjoyed food, sweets, dancing, it was just all around a good night. She eventually forgot about the absence of her partner.

Midway through the night, she had left the particular small group she had been talking to, to go get a drink. Next to the food arrangement on the table, there was the photo album they had gotten for her, along with a few small wrapped gifts. Kidd had made certain to tell her not to look at said album until it was complete, but she risked a quick glance anyway. She briefly caught sight of some of the notes people had written on the pictures.

_'Good luck, Maka-chan!'_

_'We'll miss you, but this is still so exciting! Please be safe and stay in touch!'_

_'I want to hear all about every place you've gone when you get back. Take lots of pictures!'_

She smiled. She was convinced that one of the small presents on the table was a camera. The label had '_All of us!_' written as the giver. She was a little sad to be leaving, but she was more excited than anything. She didn't know how long she would be gone, but she had every intention of coming back within the year.

Then she realized that she had gotten so caught up in her thoughts, she almost forgot why she had come over to the long, neatly organized table. There was a cooler on the floor at each end of the table (they only really needed one, but Kidd couldn't stand, and had insisted on two to keep the balance), each of them had different beverages in them. Maka choose the one she was closest to and began rummaging through it. Not soon after she stuck her hand into the watery ice did she feel a timid tap on her shoulder. She turned her head and was greeted by a tall, pale pink haired boy, awkwardly clutching his arm and smiling nervously.

"Chrona!" Cooler forgotten, she lunged at him and threw her arms around his neck. She felt him tense up considerable for a moment, before eventually relaxing and hesitantly returning her embrace. She was a lot more excited to see him than she thought she'd be. Maybe because she had originally thought he wasn't coming either, but she felt like now that he was here, the night was made. She pulled back to look at him. He was wearing the white suit-type outfit that he had last worn to one of Kidd's parties. And he had a small package in his hand.

"S-s-s-sorry I'm late, Maka." He stuttered out. "I g-g-got you something." He held out the small box. It was a simple little box, wrapped in simple brown paper. Her name was written in scribbly letters on the top. She smiled at him and took the box, setting it down on the table with her other gifts, and turned to embrace him again, this time wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in the crook of his neck. "I'm glad you came."

He seemed a little taken aback by her actions, at first not doing anything and just standing there. His hands hovered above her back, but didn't actually touch her. When they finally did, they were very light, as if she was fragile and would break if he was too hard. His hands finally managed to travel the rest of the way around her until he was holding her as tight as she held him. It was nice to hold Maka. It felt nice.

This nice feeling was short lived, however, as Ragnarok soon burst from Chrona's back. "So I hear you're leaving, Small Tits!" He yelled, and Chrona, out of shock and embarrassment, released his hold on Maka and stumbled backward. Before Maka could respond, Black Star was there, throwing his arm around Chrona harshly. "What took you so long, Chrona? You kept Maka waiting!" He shouted, laughing. "What's the matter, don't know how to deal with parties?!"

"No, I don't!" Chrona yelled, struggling with now both Black Star, who had him in a head lock, and Ragnarok pinching his nose and pulling his ear. "I _don't_ know how to deal with parties!" Maka couldn't help but laugh. The commotion attracted the attention of the rest of the gang, who all made their way over to greet Chrona, and take more pictures.

The party had easily been one of the best nights of Maka's life, she decided. Blair even showed up for the last bit of it, crying and hugging everybody (causing more than one nosebleed), going on about how much she would miss her and how empty the apartment would feel and whose lap would she sleep on now late at night after Soul went to bed? (Blair had a thing about sleeping on people's laps, mainly her's, rather than flat surfaces like bed's or chairs. Maka always assumed it was because she enjoyed being petted. Soul never really petted Blair, and more often than not would just push her off if she tried to nap on him.) Blair said she had a present at home waiting for her, which Maka could only assume was some kind of frilly underwear. Still, the thought was nice, the cat woman had grown on Maka a lot, and in some ways, filled the gap left by her mother's absence. Tsubaki asked Blair later, when Maka was talking with someone else, if she knew where Soul was.

"What? He's not here?" Had been her response.

It made Maka so happy to know that she had so many good friends who cared so much as to do something like this for her. But eventually the night ended, as all nights eventually do. One by one, the guests hugged her, told her they would miss her, and left. Soon, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz, Patti, Kidd, and Chrona were all that remained. Maka mentioned how, although she wished the party could've gone on forever, she did have a plane to catch in the morning and it was getting late. Liz and Tsubaki boxed up all the leftover sweets for her to take with her, and Kidd packed all the gifts, plus the newly completed photo album in a bag for her, realizing that she would have to walk home and carrying a bunch of opened presents would be troublesome.

Chrona fidgeted awkwardly, feeling like there was nothing he could do to be useful. He gravitated to Maka's side. "Maka..." He said quietly. "W-where is Soul?"

Maka, who had been finishing off her last plate of food, stopped chewing, the tip of her fork resting on her lower lip. She didn't look at him, and Chrona saw Black Star and Kidd from a few meters away, both wide eyed, rapidly shaking their heads and holding their hands up, motioning him to shush.

"He's not here." Maka said quietly. "He didn't come." Her voice wasn't sad or angry, as Chrona wouldn't predicted based on Kidd and Black Star's reaction to his asking. She sounded calm, like she was merely stating a fact.

"I-I'm sorry..." He stuttered. "I d-didn't-"

She looked up at him and smiled sweetly. "It's okay. He probably just didn't want to start crying in front of everyone." By the tone of her voice, he could tell she didn't actually believe that. It was just an excuse. He could tell she genuinely didn't know why he wasn't here and she was in fact upset by his absences.

One by one, she hugged and kissed everyone goodbye. A few tears were shed, but she promised she wouldn't be gone longer than a year, even though she really had no idea how long this mission would last. She bid her friends a final farewell, and left.

The bag she carried wasn't too terribly heavy. Blair had gone home earlier in the night (she mentioned something to Liz about tearing Soul a new one), so she walked alone in the dimly lit streets of Death City. She walked slowly, taking in the sight of the city streets for the last time, and also because she didn't know if Soul was awake or not. He probably wasn't, but in the event that he was, she wanted to be prepared with something to say. She didn't want to scold him for not being there. She just kind of wanted to get the point across that she wished he had been there.

"Maka!" She wasn't too far away from Kidd's house yet when she heard that voice. She turned and saw Chrona running to catch up with her.

"Chrona!" She said happily. He approached her, doubled over for a moment, holding his stomach, and trying to catch his breath. "What are you doing here? Didn't you go home?"

'Home', meaning back to Shibusen where he still lived in the dungeon. People tried many times to get him to move to a more homey place, but he refused. He insisted that the small, dark room was comforting to him, it was familiar, and also, he felt safe there.

He was still out of breath, hands on his knees. when he answered. "I... realized that... you... would be walking... home alone." He panted, his breathing slowly returning to normal, he stood upright. " It can be... dangerous at night. Let me walk you home."

"Oh, you don't have to." She said. "It's not that far, I'll be fine." She smiled. "And it's not nearly as dangerous as it used to be."

He clutched his arm, avoiding her gaze. "I know. And I know that you can take of yourself... but still, let me walk you home."

She stared at him for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay."

He looked at her, suddenly excited. To see him excited about something was rare. She assumed it was because she was leaving that he wanted to spend the extra little bit of time with her. She wasn't blind to the fact that he'd grown attached to her, she had really taken him under her wing since he got there. It was a light hearted joke at the academy that she had become like his mentor or his guardian. When she went somewhere without him, people would ask 'Where's your protege?' Or when he was seen without her, which was few and far in between, they'd say 'Have you lost your other half?' (That last one might have been a little insulting, expect for the fact that he usually _was_ lost whenever she wasn't around). It was all in good fun and she didn't mind it. It was actually kind of cool to think that she was someone's mentor. And Chrona himself seemed to like the ongoing joke. He liked to think that Maka was in fact protecting him.

She locked her arm in his and laid her head on his shoulder and he tensed instantly. He would cling to her all the time, like he was afraid to lose her in the massive halls of the school, but she rarely did the same to him. Now that she was, he wasn't sure he knew how to deal with it. "L-l-let me carry that for you." He stuttered, holding his hand out to take her bag.

"Oh, Chrona, it's okay, it's not heavy-" She insisted.

"Please?"

She raised her head to look at him. He looked a little bit desperate, for lack of a better word. His hand remained outstretched, waiting for her to hand it to him. She didn't say anything, but slowly held it up for him to take, which he did. She laid her head back on his shoulder, arms still locked, as they started walking.

Chrona had mixed feelings about her leaving. On one hand, it was true that he absolutely adored her and couldn't do most things without her present. She almost always had to come down to the dungeon to meet him before he dared leave his room. He predicted that, for the first few days after she leave, he would be miserable. He wouldn't know what to do with himself, he didn't know how to deal with the world without her.

On the other hand, he'd given it much thought, and maybe this would be good for him. He used her as a shield, in a way, and he always felt like he was burdening her. Maybe her leaving would give him a chance to learn to deal with the world on his own. She said herself that she'd be back soon. He'd imagined every night for the past few weeks, how great it would be if she came home to a brand new, confident Chrona. A Chrona that didn't burden her with needing to be protected. A strong Chrona who could do things on his own. A Chrona that might actually be good enough for her.

Ha. That was silly. Even if she was gone for five year, he'd never buck up enough confidence to ever even think that he was half way good enough for her. There was too much damage. He was beyond hope for repair. Within reason, the most he could hope for would be gaining enough courage to leave his room without her escort. Another thing too, while he couldn't do most things without her present, there were also a lot of things that he couldn't do with her present. He said no to trying most new activities because he was so utterly terrified of looking like a fool in front of her. Maybe while she was away, at least he could try something new. Learn how to do something and expand his skill set a little. Maybe he could even get really good at something and impress her when she came home.

But let's not get carried away now. The most he could hope for was to prove that he wasn't totally worthless. And even that was a stretch.

As they walked, arm in arm, it finally started to sink in. She was leaving. She was leaving tomorrow. She was leaving tomorrow for almost a year. His heart dropped. He need she would come back, but he still felt like he was losing her. The thought of losing her made him panic a little. It must have shown, because Maka looked up at him. "Chrona, are you okay?"

"F-f-fine, why do you ask?" As he said, he realized how pathetic his voice sounded. It came out as gasping stutters. He felt himself trembling as well.

"Liar." She said softly. "What's wrong?"

She always new when there was something he wasn't telling her. It wasn't hard, he was a terrible liar, but still, she had a way of somehow always knowing if he was silent because he had nothing to say, or silent to keep from saying something.

"I-I just..." Why was he so nervous? Maka was usually the only person he wasn't nervous around. "I-I'll miss you..."

It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth.

She accepted his response and laid her head on his shoulder once more. "I'll miss you too."

The whole truth was that he felt absolutely lost without her. He had no idea how he planned on dealing with the next few days after her departure. But to tell her that would seem just plan whiney. He was sure she had much on her mind already. He need not add to it with his own emotional turmoil.

There was something else too. Way deep down, what really scared him was the thought that, without her, he would go crazy again and slip into madness. There had been a few incidents, not many, but more than one, where he had felt himself slipping. He was getting better, but no one heals over night. Especially not him. When it did happen, Maka had a way of calming him out of it. He worried that, with her gone, he'd be more susceptible to the madness. What would he do if he had an episode and she wasn't there?

"Chrona..." Maka startled him out of his thoughts. "You're trembling again."

He realized he was in fact shaking rather violently. He took a deep breath to still himself. He looked at Maka, expecting her to be looking at him with a quizzical expression. She still clung to his arm, head on his shoulder, and her eyes were actually closed. She was allowing him to lead her as they walked down the darkened street.

No more, he thought. No more worrying tonight. This was the last time he would see Maka for another... well, a long time. This had been the last time she was going to see most of her friends in a long time. This night was meant to be her night. It was supposed to be special. As plagued as he was by dread for the near future, he decided right then that he wasn't going to ruin this for her.

"I-I'm sorry." He laughed awkwardly. He gripped the bag in his hand, palms sweaty. Maka didn't usually wear her hair down, but she did tonight. It was longer than he thought it was. He could feel it against his neck and on his back, even through his clothes. He liked her hair down.

"Is something bothering you?" He snapped out of his thoughts again and wondered if he was shaking again. He realized he wasn't, she was just following up to the last thing he said.

"O-oh, uh..." He wanted to say that he was just going to miss her, but he already said that. "No, nothing's bothering me. I just really am going to miss you."

"Really?" Her voice was playful. "Then why do you keep shaking?"

He hadn't expected her to answer so quickly. And he had no answer for that. He panicked. "I-I-I j-just..." He felt a tingling in his back. Ragnarok burst from his skin.

"Maybe because you made him carry all your shit, Little Girl!" He sudden presence startled both of them, but Maka didn't remove her head from Chrona's shoulder. He felt her sigh in annoyance.

"N-no, she didn't!" Chrona stuttered. "I offered to carry it!" This was awful. He wanted to make her last night special and all that had happened so far was meaningless small talk, mostly about him being nervous.

"Whatever. So, Small Tits." Ragnarok settles atop Chrona's head. "They finally sending you away, huh? What happened, you finally snap and Maka Chop a teacher?"

Ragnarok was the only one who still called her 'Small Tits'. Awhile back, she'd gotten fed up with Soul calling her that, and she did something about it. They had been arguing, not fighting exactly, more of just teasing each other, and he had made a crack about how no one wanted a partner with such tiny tits. She looked at him for a long time, Chrona remembered, and finally said with a smile, "You one but you, huh?" She spend the next week telling everyone in school that Soul had a thing for girls with small breasts. She later said that it probably wasn't the most mature way of handling it, but it sure as hell shut him about about her breast size.

Maka finally lifted her head to look at Ragnarok. Her expression wasn't annoyed, as Chrona would've predicted. "Well, since you asked, it turns out I have weapon blood. I'm leaving to meet up with my mother. Shinigami thinks she'll be able to train me."

Ragnarok seemed a little taken aback by this news. "I-I didn't actually care." He said, and recoiled into Chrona's back.

Chrona sighed. "Sorry about him." This walk home was not going his way. They were almost to her apartment and nothing worth remembering had happened. He didn't know how to deal with starting conversations.

"S'okay." Maka said. "So," she peered up at him. "What are you going to do while I'm gone?"

This was good. This walk could be salvaged yet. At least Maka knew how to start a conversation. All he had to do now was keep it going. God, how was he supposed to deal with that? Well, answering her was a start.

"I don't know." No, not good enough. Say something else. "I-I guess..." Come on now, almost there. "I guess I'll have to learn to deal with people on my own." Well, it's a start. Could've been better, but could've been a lot worse.

Maka chuckled. "You'll be fine."

He looked down at his shoes as they walked. "I don't know how I'm going to deal with the next few days without you." Eh, that sounded a little whiney. Don't be whiney.

Maka hugged his arm tighter, causing him to tense again. "Don't worry." She said softly. "I'll come home soon."

Soon, he repeated in his mind. Soon meant a time that was near. In the not too distant future. She wouldn't be home 'soon'. She'd be home 'eventually'. Eventually meaning at some point.

He didn't realize they'd made it to her apartment until she stopped walking. She untangled herself from his arm and stood before him. "Thank you." She said. "For walking me home. And carrying all my shit." She said the last bit with a light giggle, and held her hand out for her bag.

"Oh, wait!" He said it louder than he meant to, but he remembered something. He placed the bag on the ground and started fishing through it. Before too long, he pulled out the same little brown wrapped box he had given to her earlier. He held it out to her.

She took it and looked at him. "You want me to open it now?"

He twiddled his fingers together, avoiding her gaze. "I-I just want to make sure you like it."

The smallest hint of a smile grazed her lips and she carefully tore into the paper wrapping. He couldn't look at her face, but he waited anxiously. He watched her hands tear away the brown paper. He watched this until she was down to just a simple box, not bigger than the size of her palm. He couldn't watch as she opened it, and stared at his feet instead. He heard the 'pop' of the box opening, and then silence.

"Chrona..."

"I-if you d-don't like it, I-I can take it back and get something else..." He said quickly, which was a stupid thing to say, he realized, because it was probably almost midnight and the jewelry store was closed and she was leaving first thing in the morning, long before it would open again and-

She hugged him. Wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "It's beautiful."

He froze. He thought it was pretty but he didn't know if she would like it or not. It was a simple silver necklace with a skeleton key charm. On the key, written in tiny cursive letters, it said _'Key to My Heart'_. It seemed like an appropriate thing for him to give to Maka. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and smiled.

"This is so sweet." She said against his neck. "Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome." He felt his throat tighten as he realized this would be his last hug for awhile.

She pulled away, arms still around him, and smiled sweetly. "I'll be back before you even notice I'm gone."

_I seriously doubt that._

She gave him one final tight squeeze and pulled away. He felt tears well up in his eyes as she gathered up her bag and brown paper. "I'll miss you." He choked out.

She looked up at him and saw his tears. She laid a hand on his cheek and wiped them away with her thumb. "I'll miss you too." She planted a kiss on his cheek.

It was well over six months later. Well over six months of waiting for that one letter. That one letter that said Maka was coming home.

They got that letter, as Maka promised, less than a year after she left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Last chapter was more or less just a bunch of preliminary notes.**

**To set the stage, if you will.**

**...**

Patti's guess as to why Soul didn't attend Maka farewell party was more or less correct. He had been at home, not crying, but upset. He didn't want to see Maka leave, and he sure as hell didn't want to celebrate it.

He had this fear deep in his gut that if Maka had weapon blood, and learned how to use it, she would eventually no longer need him. She already could fight without him. She defeated the kishen with her bare hands, as he lay unconscience nearby. He was useless without her.

Even though she didn't directly say so, he could tell she was upset when she got home that night. That was later confirmed by Kidd and Black Star, who both punched him in each arm for missing her party (Black Star to make a point, and then Kidd to keep both sides even). Once he saw her face, he regretted missing it. She didn't cry, but the look in her eyes hinted that she was about to. He had been in the kitchen, poking a fork at some heated up leftovers. The fact that she didn't yell at him was, in a way, even more upsetting to him. He had expected a thrashing, and when he didn't receive it, he felt all the more guilty. When she arrived home, she only looked at him for a moment, like she wanted to say something, but he saw the words get caught in her throat and she just went to her room.

Before Maka even got home from the party, Blair had laid into him about how upset he had made her. She arrived home about an hour before Maka with the intention of setting up a surprise in her room for when she got home. She certainly had no problem taking a few moments away from that to scold him. _She's leaving first thing in the morning and tonight was supposed to be her special night, and instead of going and wishing her well like you, as her partner, should have, you're dicking around here at home like a little bitch_, were her exact words, as he recalled. _You should've seen her face when people asked where you were._ She also called him _a spoiled brat_ at one point.

He had been the one to take her to the airport. Needless to say, it was the most uncomfortable ride of his life. Maka didn't look at him, only spoke when she needed to tell him where to go, and made a deliberate attempt not to touch him on the motorcycle. After checking her bags and getting her ticket, she was about to just go, but hesitated. She looked him in the eye for the first time that morning and it damn near broke his heart. Still, she said nothing.

She sighed and turned to leave, and Soul finally shed tears. "Maka, wait!" She snapped back around towards him and he pulled her into a hug, weeping like a child.

"I'm sorry." He voice was barely audible and broke up by sobs. "I'm so sorry."

Still saying nothing, she embraced him and stroked his hair.

"I'm sorry I didn't go to your party, I just..." He pulled away to look at her. "I don't want you to go." He sniffled. "I mean, I know you're going no matter what, but..."

She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and wiped his eyes with it. "I'll be back soon, cool guy." Her voice was soft and lighthearted.

Soul wiped his face on his sleeve. "Only really cool guys are ballsy enough to cry in public, ya know."

He wasn't proud of the fact that her last memory of him was him crying like a baby, runny nose and all, but he sure as hell would rather it be that than her remembering him as a cold hearted asshole who didn't even hug her goodbye. But that was well over six months ago, and Maka was coming home now.

"Do you think Maka will be expecting a welcome home party?" Tsubaki asked as she helped hang a sign reading 'Welcome Home Maka!' on the wall of Maka and Soul's shared apartment.

Liz, who was hanging the other side of said sign, replied, "I think she'll be expecting _something_ but probably not a party." Black Star was blowing up some balloons, but was constantly blowing in too much air, so they popped.

It wasn't a party so much as a get together. Black Start, Tsubaki, Liz, Patti, and Kidd had all gathered at the apartment at Soul's request to put together a little something for Maka's arrival. Soul had originally planned to be the one to meet Maka at the airport, but elected instead to stay behind to make sure their impromptu party was ready in time. Chrona had gone ahead in his place, escorted by a Shibusen employee for the simple reason that Chrona couldn't drive.

Soul presently was hard at work assisting Kidd and Patti in the kitchen, attempting to whip up Maka's favorite meal, which ordinarily would be no problem, except there would be eight of them (Blair had gone out shopping for a few welcome home gifts) and they all planned on staying for dinner. Soul had really looked forward to picking Maka up at the airport, but he was the only one who knew how to prepare that particular dish. He wondered all the time whether or not she had grown any, changed at all, or sometimes he entertained the idea that she might come home with some foreign accent that she had unknowingly picked up from some other country.

Life had been quiet without her. He hadn't been on a mission since she left, and sometimes worried that he might be getting rusty. Maka and him had discussed and decided that neither of them would pick another partner, and Soul had meant that. He didn't want another partner. What Maka and him had was good, and he intended to keep it. He had had offers, though, mainly from girls, which he had always turned down. One girl, he recalled, had been especially persistent. She went so far as to suggest that Maka would abandon him as soon as she returned, and that he deserved someone better, someone who wasn't a heartless bitch. He even heard talk of her spreading a rumor that he had chosen her as his new partner and that Maka would come home to find someone else living in her house. He responded in a very not so nice way that included, but not limited to publicly telling her to 'Fuck off, little girl.' He knew it wasn't cool, but he wouldn't stand by idly while someone said such bullshit things about his meister. That was one of the reasons he was anxious for her to be home. He knew she would put a stop to all the bullshit gossip simply by being there. If anyone tried to pull them apart again, she'd handle it real quick like. He wanted nothing more than for her to be home again, and was more than frustrated that he couldn't be the one to bring her here.

He thought Chrona was a good substitute. Everyone knew he was probably the most eager to see her home again. He had developed an attachment to her that he just couldn't with anyone else. Some of them had tried to take him under their wing, but he never bonded with anyone else in the whole well over six months that she was gone. He went to group gatherings and spent time with them each individually, but they could all tell it wasn't the same as it was with Maka. Ever since she left, he had spent alone more time alone as well. He missed class a lot for the simple reason of there was no one to come get him from his room anymore. Eventually, Marie started escorting him to class in the mornings. He didn't engage with anyone unless they first engaged him, except for very rare cases. One of those cases was when he asked the pistol twins for help wardrobe shopping. He had said that he was getting sick of his robe and wanted something that wouldn't make him stick out like a sore thumb anymore. They teases him about just wanted something that made him look for when Maka got home, but they took him shopping all the same. They had made him try on a number of outfits, but the only thing he didn't completely shoot down was an outfit that consisted of plan pants, and a button up sweater a top a button up shirt. When they asked him what he liked about it, he said that he felt like it made him look a little bit more normal, but still covered him all up the same way that he was used to. Liz and Patti looked at each other and nodded. They purchased him many variations of that same outfit, and from then on, he wore them every day.

To get to the airport, Chrona had needed to call someone from Shibusen to drive him (Kidd eventually took the phone because Chrona couldn't handle making the request), and someone came and picked him up and agreed to wait outside while he went in and met Maka.

At first, he wasn't sure where he was supposed to go, and panicked. An airport staff member eventually directed him to baggage claim, where Maka would go once she arrived. He kept his head down, reading the signs through his uneven bangs. His shoulders were hunched and he clutched his arms as he walked. He would every now and then walk past a reflected surface and he would steal a glance at himself. Black pants, white collar, grey sweater. Not exactly a heart throb, but he considered it an improvement from the last time she had seen him.

He wondered what the last six months had done to Maka. He recalled Soul musing about her coming home with a foreign accents. He doubted that would happen, but he wondered what else might have changed about her. What her hair would look like, if she would dress any different. He imagined that she would probably be sporting a few new scars, each of them would probably have a story attached to them. He also wondered if her body had changed any. He wondered if she would be more muscular, or leaner, or maybe she'd look exactly the same.

Ramp number 6, ramp number 6, that's what the lady had said, right? That's where the baggage would go from the flight arriving from Europe, right? Ramp number 6.

He stood awkwardly in front of ramp number 6, clutching his arm so tight that his fingers went numb. His heart started to hurt him from nervous anticipation. His throat tightened up as he had his head on a swivel. This was it. Maka was coming home. She'd be there soon. He'd finally see her again after well over six months of her being away.

Ragnarok burst out from his back, getting the attention of some unfamiliar, uneasy looking faces. "So where the hell is blondie?" He asked, looking around.

"She'll be here soon I think."

Ragnarok settled atop Chrona's head. "You nervous?"

"N-no... a little."

"I hope she had some kind of accident that melted half her face off." Ragnarok leaned over to look Chrona in the face. "Or maybe she got fat!"

Chrona shook his head to get him out of his face. "Don't say stuff like that!"

"But what if she did?"

"Well..." He looked around again, with still no sign of her. "I guess we'll find out."

"Or!" Ragnarok settled on Chrona's head again. "What if she's turned super slutty and comes home and tried to sleep with everybody!"

"Ragnarok..."

Ragnarok never had anything good to say about anybody. His idea of a compliment was calling someone 'ugly' instead of 'horrendously disgusting'. Maka could drop out of the sky with angel wings and he still would have something insulting to say about it.

The red light above the ramp number six started flashing as the conveyer belt began to move. He hadn't realized how many people had gathered around until they all started moving for their bags. He looked around him quickly and realized Maka still wasn't there. The anxiousness returned to him, and his heart jumped into his throat. He backed up slowly until he stood against a large pillar.

"Goddamn, what is taking that bitch so long?" Ragnarok complained. "I want to go home and eat! That stuff Soul was making before we left smelled really good." Those were the only real compliments he gave. When it had to do with food. Then again, he would eat literally anything.

Chrona kept his head on a swivel looking for Maka. He wondered if he would even recognize her. Half a year wasn't that long, all things considered, but it was long enough for someone to change, especially if you hadn't seen them. He slid down the wall and sat on the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest. He didn't know how to deal with this. He was excited to see Maka, but there was an underlaying fear in his chest. Not fear exactly, but nervousness. A metal hand was clamped down on his heart and he couldn't breath and his mouth felt like cotton. Maybe someone else should've come to get her instead. Maybe he should've stayed at home and just waited for Maka to come to see him. Soul should've been the one to do this, he wouldn't done it right, he wouldn't have-

He risked a glance to his left and saw her. It was really her, no mistaking it.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Ragnarok followed his gaze. "Hey, is that...?"

She was exquisite. He had loved everything about her before she left, but now she had bloomed. Her hair was down and flowing, a lot longer than it had been half a year ago. She wore cut off shorts and a black slim fit hoodie, a pair of moccasins on her feet. She had a back pack with her, her thumbs hooked into the straps. Her eyes were up and searching, he assumed looking for the correct ramp number. The way she carried herself was different. Before, she just walked. Now, she was floating. Each step was so light and graceful. He wondered if that had anything to do with the training she did. As he had anticipated, she had a number of scars, mostly on her legs. They weren't bad, most of them were pretty small. He was probably the only one who would notice, simple because he always observed in detail.

Scars or no scars, though, it was an angel that was walking towards him.

Or at least in his direction. She hadn't seen him yet. And as she got closer, he noticed another change.

_Holy shit_ was all Chrona could think.

"Daaayaaaaamn." Ragnarok finally said. "Bitch got a rack!"

Maka looked around excitedly. Someone was supposed to be here, although she didn't know who. The only communication she had with anybody in the last six months was via letters, and they were always from her, to someone else. She had sent a letter home saying when she was coming home, her flight information, and a request that someone come get her. She didn't know who it would be, but she expected it would be Soul, just because he had a ride. And also because he was her partner. And her roommate.

"Yo, Blondie!"

That voice sounded familiar. She recognized that voice. It was not Soul's voice. Ragnarok? But that would mean...

She turned and saw them, sitting on the floor against a pillar.

He tensed when they locked gazes. He didn't know if he was ready for this. She was so beautiful, he didn't know how to deal with it. Her face was the same, the same beautiful face he knew. That smile. She was smiling at him.

"Chrona." He heard her voice for the first time in well over six months. He pulled himself to his feet and she ran to him. He watched her come towards him and forgot about being nervous. He missed her, god, did he miss her so much. And she was here, finally, home again. He reached out to her and she slammed into his chest, arms encircling him for the first time in well over six months. He didn't tense up, he didn't panic, he just held her tight to him. He could deal with this.

"Maka..." She was here. She was really here. She hadn't gotten any taller, she was still a few inches shorter than him. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled. She smelled the same as he remembered, like vanilla.

She pulled away to look up at him, still holding tightly to his waist, and smiled. "I missed you."

He smiled too, for what felt like the first time in a long time. "I missed you too."

She looked up at Ragnarok, who had been uncharacteristically silent. Chrona had almost forgotten his was there. "Hi, Ragnarok." She said sweetly. The weapon said nothing, just stared. Maka couldn't tell what his was looking at, because of his oddly shaped pupils, but Chrona had a bad feeling that he was staring at her chest. "Ragnarok?"

Before Chrona could stop him, he lunged downward and grabbed the front of Maka's shirt. She _eep_ed and jerked back from them, causing Ragnarok to pull her shirt just enough to expose her lacy pink bra. "Where in the hell did these things come from?!"

Chrona knew he should've done something, but for a solid few seconds, all he could do was stare. Her breasts weren't huge (by no means as big as any of their other female friends), but they were bigger than they used to be by a long shot. Giant breasts wouldn't look good on her, her frame was so petite, but these fit her nice. They were nice. He couldn't help the small trickle of black blood coming out of his nose. It took him a moment, once he was aware of his nosebleed, to also realize that Ragnarok still had a hold on her shirt and she was still trying to fight him off, clutching her shirt to her chest to prevent him from exposing her again.

"Ragnarok!" He yelled, and grabbed his weapons stubby arms and pulled him off of her. Maka jumped back a few feet out of his reach.

"You got boob implants, didn't you?" Ragnarok yelled. "I told you she would come back a slut!"

"I didn't get boob implants, you idiot! My body grew!" Chrona seemed to be the only one aware of the attention they were attracting.

"Yeah right, Sweetheart, you can sell that crap to Chrona if you want, but you can't fool me!" He yanked his arms from Chrona's grasp and pointed a round paw at her accusingly. "There's no way you grew tits like those on your own!"

"Ragnarok, stop it!" Chrona begged him. "You're being mean and you're making a scene!" He was more or less ignored.

"Hmmph!" Maka reached over her shoulder and blindly fished something out of her backpack. She held up a decent sized bag of fancy looking french chocolates. "And to think I actually brought you back a present, Ragnarok."

Ragnarok instantly perked up at the sight of the foreign goodies. "For me?!" He tried to snatch them from her, but she held them just beyond his reach. "Gimme!"

"Oh no, you hurt my feelings." She turned away with a clearly fake pout. "Why should I give you presents when you say such mean things to me?"

He was still for a moment before he crossed his arms and turned away, grumbling something inaudible.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Maka cupped a hand around her ear.

"I SAID," He shouted, and then mumbled, "I'm sorry."

Maka smiled. "Aww, why, thank you, Ragnarok." She held the chocolates out to him. "I thought you might like these."

He snatched them, tore open the bag, and scarfed them all down in a matter of seconds. "Damn, those frenchies sure know what they're doing!" Maka smiled smugly at him, which he ignored. "Nice tits, by the way." And with that, he retreated back into Chrona.

Maka rolled her eyes and looked at Chrona. "I've never seen him apologize to anyone for anything before." He said, wide eyed. He still had some black blood dripping from his nose. She giggled and tapped her upper lip. He touched the area, looked at his finger, blushed and turned away, furiously wiping his face with his sleeve. He turned back shyly. "Did I get it?"

Maka laughed, the sound making his heart throb. "Yeah, you got it."

He chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry about... that."

"It's okay." Her voice was soft. His breath hitched as she gingerly took his arms and guided them to wrap around her waist. Her own arms snaked around his shoulder and she held him tightly, nuzzling her face against his collar bone. "I missed your hugs."

He felt faint. Surely, this was a dream. It was too perfect. She was too perfect. Things like this just didn't happen to him. He didn't deserve it. She was an angel, and he was as close as one could get to being a demon without actually being evil.

She inhaled. "You smell just like I remember." She squeezed him tighter. "Like flowers."

Yep, this was a dream all right. But it's not like he hadn't had dreams like this before.

He tightened his own grip on her and buried his face in her hair. He brought one hand up to run his fingers through it. It was as soft as ever. "I missed all of you."

They stayed in each other's embrace for a few moments longer, until Maka finally pulled away, but not before standing on her tip toes to place a feather light kiss on his cheek. "I'm going to grab my bag and then we can leave."

Chrona said nothing, only nodded and watched as she cantered off to the baggage ramp to retrieve her suitcase. His hand came up to brush the spot on his cheek where her lips had graced. He could hear Ragnarok inside his head. _I'm telling ya, kid, the girl's turned into a slut! She'll probably try to get you to put your hand up her skirt before we even get home, mark my words._

"Stop it, Ragnarok." He whispered. "No she's not. And she's not even _wearing_ a skirt."

Chrona insisted on carrying her bag for her, which was was heavy, but also on wheels, so it wasn't hard. Maka held his hand as they walked out to the car, which he didn't mind at all. He still wasn't convinced that he wasn't dreaming, but one clue that he was indeed awake was that Ragnarok kept making comments in his head about how she'd probably stick her hand down his pants in the car. He tried so hard to ignore him, but it made him blush all the same.

"I like your outfit, by the way." She said to him once they were in the car and on their way back to Death City. The airport wasn't too terribly far from home, but it wasn't in the heart of the city, where they were used to being. More or less an hour or so, depending on traffic.

"D-do you?" He responded. He heard Ragnarok whisper _Oh man, here it comes_.

"Yeah." She smiled. They were in the backseat of the car, both turned to face each other. She held one of his hands in both of her's. She traced her index finger along his knuckles, which sent chills up his spine. "Did Liz and Patti get it for you, or...?"

He tugged at his collar nervously with his free hand. "Well, they bought it for me. And took me shopping. They had me try on a bunch of stuff and this was one of the things I liked."

She giggled. "Yeah, that sounds like them."

He could tell she was running on empty. Her energy had gone down immensely in just the short time since she got there. He wondered if the Welcome-Home-get-together-thingy was a good idea. Maybe they should've waited until she had time to recharge her batteries. He had no doubt in his mind that she would put on a happy face and pretend to be excited and have a good time, but she was probably exhausted. "Hey," He said softly. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" He could see her eye lids starting to fail her. "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just a little hungry. And tired." She was growing more visibly weary but the second. "I'm still on European time, I guess. There's a seven hour time change, you know." She stole a glance at the watch on her wrist. "It's almost 6 here, sooo..." He could see the gears in her head turning slowly. "It's about 1 am in France."

He wanted to ask her questions about where she had been. Had she been in France long, what other countries did she visit? He knew she'd been to a fair few, he'd received letters from about a dozen different return addressed. But he thought right now probably wasn't the best time to ask.

"You should probably get some sleep when you get home." He said, internally considering texting Soul and telling him to cancel the 'party'.

"I would love to do that," She said. "But something tells me that there will be people in my apartment." His expression must have tipped her off, because he could tell she knew that she was right. She looked, not disappointed exactly, but maybe frustrated? As much as he knew she wanted to see everyone, regaining her energy was what was most important at that moment.

He held out his arms to her. "Come here." They were stuck in traffic, which could easily add another hour to their travel time. Poor Maka was probably sick of traveling by that point.

She looked at him with a confused expression. She watched as he readjusted to a position where she could easily lay her head on his chest. He once again held his arms out to her. "Come here."

She didn't argue. She slowly scooted over to him and laid on her side, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." She whispered. He could hear exhaustion in her voice. Sleep was coming for her fast. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up so she was basically sitting in his lap. He didn't care that it could be mistaken for a compromising position, all he cared about in that moments was that she was comfortable. He ignored Ragnarok's voice in his head, saying _Damn, that's a nice view._

By the time they arrived back at Maka's apartment, she was out cold. Chrona didn't have the heart to wake her, so he thanked the driver, gingerly picked her up bridal style, and carefully carried her up the stair. It took some negotiating, but he eventually coaxed Ragnarok into holding onto her bags so that he could drag them up as well without having to make more than one trip. The other's were disappointed that she was asleep, and he could tell they wanted to wake her, but once he explained the jet lag she was experiencing, they understood and dropped it. Each of them made some sort of comment about how much she ad changed physically since they last saw her, Blair even going so far as to shout out about how excited she was that she finally had a good reason to buy frilly undergarments for her.

Soul walked with Chrona and the sleeping Maka back to her bedroom, where he pulled back the blankets so Chrona could lay her down. Soul pulled the shoes off her feet and somehow managed to strip off her hoodie for her (he explained that she used to comment sometimes about how much she hated being too hot when she slept). Chrona watched as Soul tucked her in and kissed her forehead, whispering "Welcome home, Maka."

He smiled. He admired what Maka and Soul had together. Even after all that time apart, Soul still took care of her, even when she didn't know it. They were a family.

Family. He wasn't quite sure what that exactly meant. But if it was real, Soul and Maka were it.

Soul and Chrona shared a look, and then left her to sleep. They joined the others in the kitchen, where they had already started to pick at the meal Soul, Kidd, and Patti had prepared. Even though the 'party' would have to be put off until later, there was still food to be eaten, they decided.

"So," Liz said, breaking the silence. "Little Maka sure has grown up, huh?"

Soul nodded with an almost annoyed expression. "I'm going to have to beat them off with a stick at Shibusen."

They finished the food, making small talk as they did so. They decided that maybe they could try this again tomorrow, when Maka was actually awake. Kidd mentioned how they probably should've figured that she'd be tired when she got home. They could leave the decorations the way they were, and maybe order pizza instead of slaving in the kitchen two days in a row.

As nighttime crept up on them, they all eventually went home until only Chrona was left. He didn't mean to be the only one left, he just hadn't realized it until he was. He helped Soul box up all the left overs so that Maka could heat them up when she woke up and God knew what time. With nothing else to occupy his time there, Chrona awkwardly stated that he would return home as well.

"Hey, Chrona." Soul said as he was half way out the door. He stopped and listened. "Thanks for picking her up today. I bet she was happy to see you there."

Chrona gave a small smile. "You're welcome."

As he walked home down the dimly lit streets of Death City, Ragnarok burst out of his back. "I'll bet you she tries to get in Soul's pants when she wakes up."

"For God's sake, Ragnarok, stop it!"


	3. Chapter 3

When Maka finally awoke, it was a little after three in the morning. She had always been slow to wake up, that never changed. She was conscience, but her thoughts took a little bit longer to start up. She was in her bed. How had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered was being in the car with Chrona. Oh, she must've fallen asleep and he brought her here. She was a little surprised at herself for not waking up. Oh well. She was aware off how late it was and knew that no one else would be awake at this time of night. It frustrated her slightly, because seeing her friend's again had been what she was most excited for after being away for well over six months. Maybe she should just try to go back to sleep. Her internal clock needed readjusting anyway, and she didn't want to just sit around until her friends woke up. Yes, going back to sleep was the best course of action.

Her stomach churned and she realized how hungry she was. When was the last time she ate? She got something small before getting on the plane in Paris, and hadn't had anything since then.

Alright, food, then bed.

She rose to her feet. She was still in her tank top and jean shorts she had worn the day before. She really wasn't fond of sleeping with pants on, they could be very constricting. She noticed that her suitcase was laying on the floor. She would have to unpack eventually, but not right now.

She would just have to make do as far as sleep clothes. She crossed the room to her dresser and fished through one of the drawers. There were still some clothes in there that she hadn't taken on her trip with her, like old t-shirts. She pulled one out, stripped of her day clothes, untangled her necklace from her hair and removed it, and pulled the t-shirt over her head.

Okay, kitchen. She didn't worry about the fact that she wasn't wearing pants, Soul was surely asleep anyway. And even so, the t-shirt was long enough to cover her panties. The oversized thing hung off one of her shoulders. She wondered what kind of food was in the house, Soul had been here by himself after all. Well, if nothing else, surely there was either some cereal or ramen. Just something to tide her over until morning when she could have a proper breakfast.

She tip toed down the hallway and passed Soul's door. She was briefly tempted to peek inside, just to see him after well over six months apart. No, that was a bad idea. If she saw him asleep, it would just make her want to wake him up. Besides, it would be better if they were both fully conscience when they saw each other.

She huffed. She wanted to see him now.

She got to the kitchen and noticed a note on the table, written in Soul's scribbly handwriting.

_Maka,_

_I made that lasagna that you like, but your sleepy ass fell asleep so I ate it all._

_Just kidding, it's in the fridge, you can heat it up._

_Welcome Home_

She smiled. She missed Soul so much. She wanted even more now for him to be awake.

She found and heated up the left over lasagna, and sat and ate it. It was at that time that she actually noticed the state of the adjoined living room. There were decorations, balloons, and a banner that read 'Welcome Home Maka!'

Her mood dropped ever so slightly. Not because she knew she had missed a party, but because there was supposed to be a party. She didn't want a party. At least, not one focused around her. The idea of a large group of people all looking at her made her uneasy. Ever since... _that thing_ happened... well, no point worrying about it now. She knew her friends would want to see her, but she would see them all individually now, which was better, since the party obviously hadn't happened. She'd tell Soul about... _the thing_ tomorrow. It was bound to come up eventually. Best to nip it in the bud right away.

When she finished eating, she rinsed her dishes and padded off, back to her bedroom. She could still get another good solid nights sleep before anyone else would be awake.

...

The second time Maka awoke, it was almost noon. Surely, Soul was up by now.

She was still unwilling to completely unpack yet, but she opened her luggage to fish out a fresh tank top and some sweat pants, just to wear around the house for awhile. She'd really unpack later.

She changed and exited her room and nearly ran down the hall, stoping in front of Soul's door. She tapped the door three times with her knuckle, but didn't bother waiting for a response. She quietly pushed the door open and stuck her head in. "Soul?"

He was still fast asleep, snoring and mouth wide open, complete with drool trail.

Okay, fuck this.

She ran and jumped onto the bed, plopping down in the empty space between him and the wall. He woke with a start, wildly looking around for what caused such a commotion. His eyes met Maka's, whose face was only a few inches from his. She smiled at him. "Morning, Sunshine."

"Maka." Sleepiness was present in his voice, but excitement rang through it. He pulled her into a hug, dragging her down onto him. She wrapped her arms around him as best she could and nuzzled her face in his neck. "I missed you."

She laughed. "I missed you too."

She folded her arms over his chest and rested her chin on them, looking up at his still very much sleepy face, and smiled warmly. She really had missed him. What she shared with Soul was perfect. He was like a twin brother to her. She felt so comfortable with him. There were rumors around the academy that what they shared was something more than friendship, but that wasn't the case. They were partners, and best friends. And while Maka could say with confidence that she did not have romantic feelings for Soul, she was... oh, what was the right word? Possessive. Yes, that's it. She was very possessive of him. The idea of him being partners with anyone else drove her crazy. And although she'd never admit to it out loud, she very much considered him _hers_. He was _her_ weapon. She remembered back in the beginning of there partnership, how he used to tease and call her things like 'My Master' and 'My Queen', and sometimes when he didn't want to something, like if someone asked to come to their house and he didn't want them to, he would say "Sorry, boss lady says no" as an excuse. Or sometimes, a girl would hit on him, and he would give Maka a look that said '_help me_', and she would pull him away, saying, "Sorry, this is mine." She never did it unless she knew he wanted her to, and he always thanked her when she did do it. They did that a lot, actually. They would use each other as an excuse to get out of things they didn't want to do. That's probably why a lot of people thought they were more than just friends.

It was all a joke, of course, she knew that, but it instilled in her a sense of... something like ownership over him. Like, he really was hers.

She knew that was probably not a good thing. He wasn't her property, not by any means. She didn't seek to control him, as something like that might imply. She just liked being able to think of him as '_mine_'.

"Sleep well?" She said. He yawned, his eyelids still heavy from sleep.

"Yeah." Rested one hand on the small of her back, and rubbed his eyes with the other. "How about you? You slept for a long time, huh?"

"Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and ate something." She shimmied up his body to lay a kiss on his forehead. "Thanks for the lasagna. It was delicious."

He smirked and flipped them over, vigorously tickling her stomach. She squealed and squirmed to escape, but he held her down with his body weight. Through the giggling and thrashing, they heard the door open.

"Maka!" The next thing they knew, they were both near drowned in breasts, as Blair had flung herself onto them in much the same way Maka had. She had been a cat in the doorway, and poofed into a woman midair. Blair snatched her up and squeezed her, either unaware or uncaring of her desperate attempts at breathing. "Blair missed you so much!"

"Missed you... too... can't... breath!" Blair loosened her grip and Maka gasped, sucking in much needed sweet oxygen. She wrapped her arms around the cat woman, who was still very much on top of her, and hugged her, Soul near forgotten beside them. Blair rubbed her face all over her neck and her own face, in a very cat like way. She stopped, however, and sat up slightly, looking down at her chest.

"Wha...?" A sound of panic rang through Maka as she realized what Blair was looking at.

In a flash, Blair lunged forward again and grabbed Maka's breast, causing her to shriek in surprise. "Soul-kun, look!" She said, palming her chest. "Maka's got boobies!"

"G-get off!" Maka yelled, trying to push her away, but she just wouldn't go. First Ragnarok, now Blair. Was this going to turn into a common thing?

She looked to Soul for some back up, but he had turned away. She caught sight of a blood stream coming from his nose._ Fucking boys..._ she thought.

"They're so cute!" Blair continued, still grasping them. "They're like little baby boobies!"

"What does that even mean?!" Maka tried to get up, but to no avail. "Soul, help me!"

"They aren't as big as mine and I have adult boobies, so your's are like baby boobies!" Blair giggled. "Don't worry, they're adorable!" She looked to Soul, who was leaning over the side of the bed, furiously wiping his nose with a tissue. "Awww, look, Soul like them!"

"Blair, please, for God's sake, stop!" Maka pleased. "That hurts!"

As soon as she spoke the word 'hurts', Blair poofed back into a cat and nuzzled onto her, making herself at home right between her now sore breasts. "Blair is sorry!" She whined. "Blair didn't mean to hurt them!"

Maka sighed in relief, putting her hands over her breasts protectively. "It's okay, just... don't do that again."

She hadn't even noticed that Soul disappeared. She scooped up Blair, who climbed onto her shoulder, and went to the kitchen, where she assumed he had gone, and sure enough he was digging through the fridge and pulled out some milk. He had already set out a bowl of cereal. Maka got herself a bowl as well, and filled it with the same cereal, which he had left out.

They sat and ate, and Soul realized that the decorations for her party were still up. God, how stupid was he? That was might to be a surprise party, and when she had shown up knocked out, they decided to hold it off for a day. But he didn't even think about the fact that she'd obviously see them. Idiot. Well, there goes the surprise.

Actually, wait...

He chuckled. "So..." He gestured over Maka's shoulder towards the living room. "If you hadn't noticed, we tried to throw you a party."

Maka glanced at the decorations, still hung perfectly from the dat before. She chuckled and gave an apologetic smile. "Yeah, sorry about that. I tried, and I just couldn't stay awake."

Soul munched on his cereal. "We should clean that up." He felt Blair paw at his leg, looking confused, and he winked at her, under his bangs so Maka didn't see. "But we can do that later. I'm still tired. And it's not like there is anything else going on today."

"Okay. Today can be a chill day. I've got some stuff I want to get done today too." It was probably for the best. She was not at all interested in having a party. She did want to see her friends, but not all at once. Maybe now was a good time to tell him about_ that thing_, since he brought it up anyway.

No, not yet. He said he was still tired, and she wasn't exactly running on all cylinders yet either. She wanted to get more settled in. She had a good feeling about today. She could get cleaned up, unpack, maybe do some laundry. She almost felt like she was moving in all over again. She had been gone for quite sometime. She was happy to be home. Today was going to be a good day.

She really didn't particularly enjoy talking about_ that thing_, but it was probably best to get that conversation over with to avoid any...

Well, it was just a conversation that needed to happen. She'd start with Soul and Blair, and then tell the rest of their friends in time. Probably should do it before they tried to plan another party. She did _not_ want a party.

It was stupid, really. They were her friends, it shouldn't bother her so much. It's not like the eight of them weren't always together anyway. But still, just imagining a group that big, friends or not, all looking at her reminded her so much of-

"Well, I'm going to get dressed." Soul said, getting up to rinse his dish. As Maka watched him, she thought that maybe she should tell him now. Just to get it out of the way. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't even want to think about it. She had just recently been able to stop thinking about it, she didn't want to start again now, just when she was finally home.

No, no, it would be fine. She could put it off at least until she was settled in. It's not like he was planing a get together for today anyway.

After breakfast, she told Soul she wanted to unpack and take a shower. She took her laundry out of her suitcase first and brought it to the washer. She hated traveling with dirty clothes, but the laundry facility at the hotel in France was so goddamn expensive that she just decided to put them in a plastic bag to wash when she got home. She poured in the detergent, making a mental note to put that on the grocery list. God, did Soul ever replace anything while she was gone?

Okay, good, now she could unpack, and by the time she was done, the laundry would be finished and she could take a shower.

She shut her bedroom door behind her, stared for a moment at her large suitcase, and opted instead to lay down on her bed. She sighed and curled up into a ball. She knew what this was. She was trying to kept herself busy to avoid thinking about_ the thing_, but coming so close to telling Soul about it had, for some reason, turned on a pressure switch in her chest. It was just a little bit too overwhelming. She thought about calling Mama.

No, she could deal with this herself. She was a big girl, after all. She recalled her mother offering to call and talk to Shinigami-sama about_ the thing_, and have him relay it to her friends so that she wouldn't have to. She seriously considered that, but ended up declining the offer. She felt that if she did do that, it would just make it a bigger deal than if she just told them herself. She hadn't realized how labored her breathing had become from just thinking about it. She wrapped her arms around herself as tightly as she could, reaching behind her to touch the spot where the tattoo was. She couldn't feel it of course, but she knew where it was. Getting it done had been a bitch, but she was glad she had it.

She rolled onto her back and took deep breathes, trying to steady her heart. _Relax, Maka, it'll be okay_, she told herself. _Today is a good day, remember?_

She pulled herself up. Yes, this was a good day. It was a Saturday, so she didn't even have to worry about returning to school yet. Yes, yes, a good day, indeed.

Putting her clothes away had gone a lot faster than she originally anticipated once she turned some music on. Stuffing the trunk of a suitcase under her bed, she looked around her room. It was pretty bare from when she left. She had a whole collection of new things from all the different countries she'd been to. Maybe redecorating was something she should think about. But not right now, it wasn't.

She went into the kitchen, where Soul was on the phone. He was dressed in the same she remember him. Orange shirt, black jacket, brownish pants. As soon as he heard her come in, he quickly stopped talking to whoever it was. She paid this no mind. "You need to do anything in the bathroom? I want to take a shower."

He shook his head quickly. "Nope, thanks for asking, go ahead." She cocked an eyebrow at his rushed words, but thought maybe he was in middle of a serious conversation and wanted to get back to it. Very well then, a shower it is.

He watched her leave and only when he heard her bedroom door shut did he continue speaking. "Sorry, Maka just came in." He said into the receiver.

"How are you planning on making this a surprise party without her catching on?" Kidd said on the other line. He, Chrona, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz and Patti were all at a pizzeria not far from Soul and Maka's apartment, waiting on their large order to be filled.

"Don't worry, she just said she's going to take a shower, and if she still takes showers the same way she used to, she'll be in there awhile." Soul responded. "Just come here once you get the food. It'll be fine, I promise."

Once in her room, she stripped and put her robe on. She laid out some short black spandex and a large gray sweater for when she got out. She caught sight of something on her dresser. It was the necklace Chrona had given her the night she left. She rarely took it off after that night, only removing it to shower and to sleep (it was bothersome to have it tangle into her hair throughout the night). She picked it up and looked at it. She had stared at it enough to know it by heart. It got to a point where she almost felt naked without it. She'd put it back on when she finished bathing.

She grabbed her towels and padded down the hall. She ran into Soul as he was emerging from his room. "Hey, you taking a shower now?"

She nodded. "Do you need to-?"

"No, no, just checking." With that, he turned and disappeared down the hall.

Hmm. He was acting weird. Or maybe he had just changed a little in six months. Either way, she wouldn't worry about it.

She let the water run until the room was steamy. She let her robe drop to the floor. She'd missed her bathroom. Showering in a hotel was never as good as your own shower. She looked at herself in the mirror. Slowly, she turned around to look at her back. She liked her tattoo. It looked cool. She didn't really have a choice in getting it and was almost completely against it at first, but it turned out pretty nice.

But then, those damn scars were still ugly as ever. There were some on her shoulders, too, but they weren't nearly as bad as the ones on her back. They were so pale compared to the ret of her skin, they stood out so much. Like cracks in her skin. She hated them.

She sighed and stepped into the hot shower. Hot water always had a way of calming her down. But her mind still rang with anxiety. If the thought of all their friends gathered together was enough to make her feel physically ill, what else would? The lot of them hung out together all the time, why was this different? Was it because she hadn't seen them in so long?

No, she knew exactly what it was. It had nothing to do with her friends personally. Just the thought of all those eyes on her, even if they were friendly, all those eyes, looking at her...

How was she supposed to do this? She'd have to tell each of them about _the thing_ at some point, but how? She couldn't decided whether this was considered an urgent matter of not. Her mother had advised her to get that conversation over with right away for two reasons. The first, because the longer she waited, the more stressed she'd become. The second, because anyone of them could easily do something without even realizing it that would cause her to-

Well, they needed to know exactly what not to do and why. God, just thinking about it made her uneasy. Of all the stupidest shit, this is what she stressed about. She knew that her worries were for not, _the thing_ couldn't happen again, they'd made sure of it. What did it still keep her up at night? Why did she still fear that it would happen again? Why did she have nightmares and flashbacks of this? Of all the things she'd done, of all the monsters she'd killed, this one stupid thing was the thing that did it. Maybe the reason she didn't want to talk about it was because it was embarrassing to think that this affected her so much.

Well, it was kind of a big deal, in her defense. She had the scars on her back to prove it.

Yes, she should tell Soul. It would be easier to deal with it she could talk to someone about it other than Mama. Mama was an excellent listener and always knew what to say, but Soul was here, and Soul knew their friends, and Soul needed to know.

Once she'd cleaned herself, she shut off the water and got out, wrapping her towels around herself. She felt ill. Think about_ the thing_ did that to her. But her mind was made up. She would talk to Soul about it. He would understand, and he could help. At least it would be a relief to have someone else know.

She felt physically sick. She needed to calm down. Nothing was happening. They had already said, today was a chill day. She'd help Soul take down the party decorations and then they could talk. God, she really dodged a bullet with that stupid party. She could only imagine what would've happened if she had been awake. She expected Chrona to be there, but then when he was the one who picked her up, she thought maybe some others would be there too. Maybe a few. Not a goddamn party.

Honestly, if she had come home and walked in on a whole fucking party, she probably would've fainted. Or had a heart attack and died instantly.

Oh well, what's done was done, and that was _done_.

Now that her mind was made up to talk to Soul about it, she wanted to do it now. She quickly got dresses, giving herself a once over in the mirror. Her hair was still wet, but she didn't much care about that. She put the necklace from Chrona on then looked at her body. This sweater was a scoop neck, she her shoulders were exposed. That would probably make it easier to show Soul her scars. And showing him her scars would help him to understand exactly what had happened. Some of her shoulder scars were exposed, too. She felt like this was one of those things that you just couldn't exactly wrap your head around until you saw it.

Well, here goes. She walked slowly, trying to regulate her breathing. God, she had barely left her room and already she was starting to hyperventilate. _Get it together, Maka._

"Soul?" She called. She wasn't exactly sure where he was in their apartment.

"In here, Maka." He called from the living room. Maybe he had already start to take down those decorations. She went in that direction.

Just a few steps before she reached the entry way, she stopped and rubbed the back of her neck. _Just do it, it will be so much easier once it's out there. He would need to know at some point anyway. Go, do it._

She took a deep breath. She could feel herself shaking. Relax, it's going to be okay. It's just Soul in there. Soul, her best friend and partner. Alright, you can do this. She pulled her hair in front of her shoulders so that it would hide her shoulder scars, and it would also give her something to do with her hands so she could relax easier. One last deep breath.

She took the last few steps. "Soul, there's something I need to-"

"SURPRISE!"

She stopped, frozen like a dear in headlights. It wasn't just Soul there. Everyone was there. Soul, Kidd, Black Star, Patti, Liz, Tsubaki, and Chrona. They were all there. And they were all looking at her, smiles on their faces.

No. No no no. Not this, anything but this. The thing, the thing. Her hands clenched the front of her sweater so tightly, her knuckles turned white. She couldn't breath. She really couldn't breath. Her heart had stopped. She shook uncontrollably.

Her horror must have been very obvious to everyone, because all their smiles dropped. "Hey, Maka, are you okay?" Black Star asked. "You look kind of terrified."

She didn't hear him. She didn't even realize someone was speaking. All she saw was all the eyes. Looking at her.

_All those eyes looking at her. Mama, where's Mama, they've got Mama. Let her go. Goddammit let her go. Something's happening. She doesn't know what it is. But suddenly everyones dead. Blood. There's so much blood. Mama. It's happening again. This time it hurts. It hurts so bad. More blood. Her blood. Why is there so much blood. I can't stop shaking. Mama help me. It hurts so bad._

"Maka!" It was Blair's voice. She was behind Maka. Maka didn't hear her. "Welcome Home!" She threw her arms around her in a tight hug.

Maka screamed. Everyone covered their ears. Blair released her at once. She kept screaming. Only when she had no air left did she realized what had happened. Her hands slapped over her mouth. Her face was wet. Had she started crying already?

She spun around. Blair looked utterly horrified. "Maka, what's wrong?" All the playfulness had left her voice.

Maka tried to answer, but she could only gasp as she continued to shake violently.

"Hey, what is that?" She still didn't hear Black Star, but she felt him tug at the back of her sweater. "Did you get a tat..." She felt cold air hit the skin that was plagued with scars and heard a chorus of gasps. "Holy..."

In a flash, her fist collided with his chin, sending him flying back. "_Don't do that_!" Her voice was barely understandable because of her sobbing. Soul was in front of her in an instant.

"Maka, what's going on, what's wrong?"

Again, she tried to answer, but she could only gasp and sob. He tried to reach out and hug her, but she shoved him away sharply and ran down the hall to her room. Blair, who had planted herself against the wall when Maka hit Black Star, looked at Soul with wide eyes. He stared back with equally wide eyes. He turned to look at Black Star. He saw equally wide eyes all around the room. It was Ragnarok who broke the silence, having just burst out from Chrona's back.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I don't know." Soul looked down the hall in the direction of her bedroom.

"That was scary." Blair said, playfulness still absent from her voice.

"What were those..." Liz tapped her own shoulder. "... were those... scars?"

They didn't look anything like the scar Soul had on his chest. They looked like her skin had literally been cracked open. They were perfectly lined up too, almost like they had been deliberate.

Soul went to Maka's room and knocked on the door gently. "Maka?" He could hear her sobbing from inside. And she was talking, or trying to anyway. She didn't seem to hear his knocking. He tried to doorknob and found it unlocked.

"Maka?" He didn't see her. He could hear her, but... wait a second. He went to her closet and slowly opened it. She was sitting in the corner with her knees up to her chin, and her cell phone to her ear. Her sobs continued. He wondered if they could be heard from the living room. He could hear a voice on the other line, muffled slightly, but loud enough.

"Is that him, is he there?" It was a woman. "Sweetie, let me talk to him."

Maka shakily handed Soul the phone, which was wet with her tears. He held it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Soul?" He didn't recognize that voice, but it was sweet and soft, like Maka's.

"Yeah, I'm Soul."

"Sweetheart, my name is Kami. I'm Maka's mother." Soul looked down at Maka, who had buried her face in her knees, still sobbing and gasping.

"Ms. Albarn, what's wrong? What's going on?"

"It's a long story, honey, but could you do me a favor? Round up all your and Maka's friends and have them all meet you at the Death Room. I'm going to call Shinigami-sama right now. I'll explain everything."

"O-okay." He looked at Maka again. He couldn't just leave her here like this, could he? "What about Maka?"

"Help her to bed and tuck her in. She won't sleep, but she'll calm down. By the time you get home, she should be okay."

This was all very overwhelming. He tried to throw her a party, and she had a meltdown. He felt guilty and worried and confused, and he was just supposed to leave her here alone like this?

Maka's mother must have read his mind, because answered him. "I know this is all very strange and frightening, believe me, I know. But you just have to trust me on this. She's my child, I wouldn't tell you to do anything that might put her in danger. I know she'll be fine in an hour or so, she just needed to relax. This is not the first time this has happened."

He sighed. He still didn't like it, but he didn't know what else to do, and it was Maka's mother, after all. If anyone knew what was happening, it was her. "Alright, we'll go to the Death Room right now."

"Good. And Soul?" Kami's voice softened. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. But you have no idea what she's been through. Thank you for being there for my daughter."

She hung up. Soul set the phone down and kneeled down beside Maka. "Maka, are you okay?"

Her panicked sobbing had more or less stopped, but tears still steadily ran down her face and she continued to gasp.

Gently, he scooped her up bridal style and carried her to her bed. She didn't resist, but shook like a leaf in his arms. He pulled the blankets up over her and stoked her hair for a moment, desperately wanted to sooth her. At least get her breathing normal again. He hadn't noticed Chrona standing in the doorway until he stood to leave.

"Is she okay?" He asked desperately.

Soul shooed him out of the room, following himself. He shut the door behind them before he spoke. "I have no idea what's going on, but I just talked on the phone with Mama Albarn."

"Maka's mother?"

They had made it to the living room by then, so Soul addressed everyone. "Maka's mom said we should go to the Death Room. She said she's going to contact Shinigami-sama and she'll explain everything when we get there."

"What, and just leave her here alone?" Kidd said.

"Blair will stay!" Blair poofed into a cat and bounded down the hall, yelling "Tell me what happens!"

They watched her go. "Well," Chrona said. "Let's go then."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the kind reviews I have gotten so far. They really do encourage me to write faster.**

**Just a tidbit of information before we get started, I don't think their ages are ever mentioned in the anime, but in the manga, it says that they are seniors, so that's what I'm going with.**

**...**

When they arrived at the Death Room, there was already a small crowd. Shinigami-sama was there, of course, along with Stein, Marie, Sid, Nygus, and a very rowdy Spirit. He stood in front of Shinigami's mirror, furious and flustered.

"Kami, I want to know what happened to our daughter!"

In the reflection was a woman who Soul could only assume was Maka's mother. He'd never met her or seen a picture of her, but there was no mistaking it. She could've easily been Maka's twin. She was clad in a loose black sweater and wore her hair up. She wore an expression of utter annoyance, which was focused on her ex-husband. "Calm your tits, Spirt, I just want to wait for everyone to get here. It's a very long story."

"Dad." Kidd said, approaching his father. "We're here. Now what is going on?"

"Hey hey hey!" Shinigami greeted them all. "Thanks for coming here on such short notice, kids!" He gestured to the mirror with one comically large hand. "Allow me to introduce you all to Kami Albarn, Maka's mother."

She tore her glare away from Spirit and gave them all a much sweeter smile. "Hey there, kids."

Her voice different than Maka's. It sounded older. But that was about the only distinguishable feature about her. Liz held up her hands and waved them. "Wait, wait. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but you are Maka's _mother_?"

The image in the mirror smirked and nodded her head. "Yep, I made that baby."

Liz looked in utter disbelief. "You look like you could be her sister."

"Aww, thank you, honey. But, I'm afraid not. I'm her Mama."

Spirit pounded his fist down on the side of the mirror, instantly breaking the light atmosphere. He'd never looked so distraught. At least, not that any of them had ever seen. "Enough of this meaningless jibber jabber, I want to know what happened to my daughter!"

For once, Soul agreed with the Death Scythe. They had rushed down here for a reason, and dammit, he wanted to know, too.

"Alright, alright." Kami said, her expression growing more... not serious, per say, but more... concentrated. She leaned back in her chair as if searching for words to begin with.

Shinigami spoke up. "I assume I should start off by asking how the mission went." He tilted his head.

Kami sighed. "The mission..." She shrugged and shook her head. "The mission was a total failure." Shinigami cocked his head to the other side, and waited for her to continue. "Well, maybe failure isn't the right word, but needless to say, we absolutely did not accomplish anything we had hoped for."

She leaned forward in her seat and laced her fingers together in thought. "My daughter's powers are very strange. But from what I've come to understand, I believe that her weapon blood is incomplete. When a weapon is born, a full blooded weapon, they possess the ability to transform entirely into a weapon and the ability to control that transformation. It's like a trait. You are either born with it, or you are not. But Maka is... different." Her eyes were mainly focused on Shinigami-sama, but occasionally would drift amongst them all, and would momentarily rest on Spirit.

"Maka... She was born with weapon blood in her, from her father, but it was like a recessive gene. She had it, but did not express it. I still can't say for certain why it decided to show though like this, but the fact is, Maka is not a full weapon. She can't fully turn into a weapon, and she has very little control over it. What Kidd described during the battle with the kishen, she was unconscience, correct?" Her eyes landed on Kidd, who nodded. "See, she cannot consciously control it. It's all subconscious. Like an instinct. Her body knows, but her mind doesn't. The problem..." She leaned back again. "...is that her body will activate it without her control. Which brings me to what happened today in your apartment."

It was a bit much to take in, but Soul thought he was keeping up. He was very eager to learn why she had such a dramatic melt down.

"Tell me, Soul." Her eyes landed on him. "What happened exactly."

Soul relaid the events to Kami, and felt very much on the spot while he did so. All eyes were on him and he was hyperaware of the death glare he was receiving from Spirit. When he finished, Kami slowly nodded.

"Alright." She said. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to take this opportunity to let you know what my daughter suffers from severe post traumatic stress disorder." She let her gaze wander over all of them. "Anybody not know what that is?"

Patti and Black Star both mumbled something inaudible.

Kami chuckled. "It's okay if you don't. PTSD is a mental disorder that is the result of going through something very traumatic. People who suffer from PTSD experience anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks. The flashbacks happen, more often than not, when they are triggered. Like if something reminds them of the traumatic event. A few months ago, something happened to Maka that she just couldn't get over-"

"Goddammit, Kami, enough lead up, what happened to her?" Spirit yelled. Kami's eyes snapped to him and narrowed.

"Relax, Spirit, I'm getting there, don't get your panties in a wad."

"Don't tell me to relax, I want to know what happened to cause my little girl so much damage!" He yelled back. "And I want to know why I haven't heard of this until now."

Shinigami sensed that this could very easily turn from a meeting into a family feud. "Spirit, please, she getting there."

He seemed to be more or less ignored. As was everyone else in the room. Kami twisted in her chair to face Spirit straight on. It was clear that as far as either of them were concerned, they were the only people in that room.

When Kami spoke, her voice was low and venomous. "You know something, Spirit? You're a real class act, aren't you? Suddenly caring about the well being of our daughter when everyone watching, suddenly acting like a caring, loving father when you have everyone's attention. You want to know why I didn't tell you? Because my daughter asked me not to. And like any half way decent parent who loves their child, I keep the promises I make to my daughter. Don't you dare try and pretend you give a shit about her feelings. Do you know how many nights I held Maka as she cried herself to sleep? And every night, it was the same. 'Why did Papa have to go and destroy our family? We could've been happy together, we could've been a real family and Papa fucked it all up. Why would he do something like that, Mama?' And they only thing I could do to comfort my child as she _cried herself to sleep_ was to hold her and say 'I don't know, baby, I don't know. But Mama's here now.' And you honestly wonder why she doesn't want you in her life. In her eyes, you are the monster who tore her whole world apart."

Maka's parents stared at each other, not saying anything more. Spirit's expression had gone from furious to heartbroken over his ex-wife's words. He looked like he could've very easily started crying. "She cried herself to sleep... over me?"

The atmosphere had grown so heavy with their words. The others in the room could do little more than just watch and wait. The knowledge the Maka had gone through so much hurt because of her father tugged at Soul heart, and he felt himself get choked up. He noticed Marie wipe a tear from her eye. Tsubaki had her hands over her heart, as though the thought of Maka's pain caused her pain. Kidd and Black Star looked at each other, their expressions grim. Nygus took Sid's hand and he squeezed it comfortingly. Liz and Patti also held hands. Chrona's ever present grip on his arm grew tighter.

Shinigami-sama sighed. He was worried this might happen. Kami and Spirit were very bitter towards each other, and both of them were very possessive of their daughter. He could sense it in the way both of them used the phrase 'My child' or 'my daughter' or 'my little girl'. He could

understand and sympathize with the fact that they had their own personally family issues, but this was getting out of hand. This was not why they had gathered together like this.

"Kami, Spirit." His voice was stern. They both looked up at him. "I realize your family has it's own issues, really I do, and I understand that you both do not exactly see eye to eye. But as a parent myself," He placed a large hand on Kidd's shoulder. "I ask that you put your differences aside, just for now, for Maka's sake. I am still very much interested in knowing what happened to her. Spirit, please, do not interrupt again."

Shinigami's firmness was always unexpected, but this time it was welcomed. He spoke the truth, and at the rate Maka's parents were going, they'd never find out what happened.

Kami sighed and rubbed her temples. "You are right, I apologize." She rested her forehead in her hands. "I know I'm taking awhile to get to the point, but this is a very complicated situation. To understand exactly what happened to my daughter, you first must understand why." She looked up at them again, her eyes landing on Soul. "I'm sorry for getting distracted. But the reason for Maka's break down today, was because you unknowingly set off many of her triggers. From what you described, it sound's like she had a flashback." She leaned forward slightly. "You have to understand that when she has a flashback, she literally relives what happened to her in her mind. She can't help it. That's why she reacted like that. And you!" She turned to Black Star. "No more pulling down girl's shirts, mister."

Black Star didn't know whether to chuckle awkwardly or feel guilty, so he just did both. He looked at Soul, because he couldn't meet eyes with anyone else, and saw that he had a hand over his mouth, his eyes filled with guilt. He looked on the verge of tears. Black Star placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"Now, as for what exactly happened..." She leaned back in her chair again. "A few months ago, Maka and I were in Italy."

Chrona perked up slightly. Italy was where he and Maka met the first time, and he had tried to kill her, almost killing her partner. It wasn't a memory he was fond of. The thought that, at one point in time, he wanted nothing more than to end her life was a thought that kept him awake some nights, tossing and turning and dreading the thought of what if he had been successful. No, no, now wasn't the time to think about himself, this was about Maka. He listened for the rest of Kami's story.

"We were more sight-seeing than anything. It was a warm summer night, we were dressed up in cute little dresses, we went out to eat, you know, just basically on vacation." She turned her attention to something they couldn't see and reached for it. She held up and framed picture of herself and Maka smiling in front of a lit up Trevi Fountain. "This picture was taken that night." Kami smiled. "Look how pretty my baby is." Seeing the two of them side by side, one could see some obvious differences. Kami was a little taller and her hair was slightly curlier. She had a slightly more mature look, but still the resemblance was uncanny.

"Anyway," she set the picture down. "After dinner, we were walking around, enjoying the scenery, and we lost our way a little. We thought, no worries, we'll figure it out, we'll just ask for direction. I speak Italian, so I wasn't worried. Well, next thing we know, we're down an alleyway with no idea where we're going, but again, we figured we'd get somewhere if we just kept going. Italian alleys are beautiful during the day, but at night, they are so dark and just feel like they go on forever."

She paused, her expression darkening ever so slightly. "We ended up... running into a rather large group of young men... And by 'running into', I mean we were attacked." She chuckled slightly, but her words still were grim. "My baby is such a fighter. I've never seen anyone punch and kick as hard as she did. But there was so many of them..." She leaned forward again. Soul recalled Maka once mentioning how her mother just couldn't see to stay still for very long. "They just kept coming. And you know, Maka's so strong, but she's still a little thing. She took a good few of them down, but they were bigger than her, and they outnumbered us. One of them grabbed me and held a knife to my throat. I was really scared that we were going to die that night."

She paused again and everyone in the room twitched with anticipation of what happened next. She sighed and continued. "Two of them grabbed Maka's arms and one of them came up behind her and grabbed her from behind." She motioned with her arms to show how the man hooked his arms around her shoulders. "She told me later than she looked at me and all she could see was the knife to my neck. My baby is so selfless..." She paused again. "I saw a look in her eye that I've never seen before. Like pure terror." She snapped her fingers. "She lost it. Scythes shot out of her back and arms and the men holding her were shish kabobed. She sighed. "It was kind of beautiful in a way. The blades came out of her back like angel wings. Anyway, the man holding me let me go and they all started screaming and running, but Maka..." She paused. "It all happened very quickly. Blades shot of her forearms," She patted the top of her own arms. "And she _slaughtered_ all of them."

She stopped, but her last words hung in the air like she wasn't finished.

Suddenly, Ragnarok burst out of Chrona's back. "That's it?! God, that's so lame! We kill people all the time, she's killed people before, what's the big deal?" He huffed. "God, only a wuss like her would get that bent out of shape over something so stupid."

Chrona's face immediately darkened in color. "Ragnarok, be quiet!"

Kami's eyes widened a little at Ragnarok. "Oh my..." But her expression soon relaxed and she pointed at him. "You must be Ragnarok."

"Yeah, no shit, lady."

She pointed at Chrona. "Which makes you Chrona."

He hunched his shoulders self consciously. "Yes, ma'am."

She smiled at him. "Maka's told me about you. You gave her that necklace she always wears, right?"

He couldn't look at her. He felt everyone staring at him. He could only nod.

"And you saved her life once," Her voice had softened slightly. "From a witch."

Again, he nodded. He clutched his arm tightly. He didn't want the attention to be on him, that was about Maka, not him.

She smiled wider. "Aww, you are precious."

"Th-thank you." Still, he couldn't look up.

"Did Maka also tell you that the witch he saved her from was his _mother_?" Ragnarok said, tilting his head.

"Ragnarok..." Chrona didn't like this conversation anymore. People tended to think twice about him once they learned that he was a witch's child. He had yet to come across anyone who blatantly hated him for it, but he had encountered people who were cautions around him. They usually relaxed once they realized his good nature, but it was still something he didn't want brought up.

"So what?" Kami said, and Chrona finally looked up. "Who your parents are doesn't define who you are. I mean, look at Maka's father." Spirit didn't say anything. Chrona noticed that he hadn't spoken or looked up since Kami's story. Kami continued. "Anybody who would sacrifice themselves for my baby is a-okay in my book." She looked at Chrona warmly. He smiled at her and felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Marie smiling at him as well.

Shinigami cleared his throat and Kami looked at him. "I sense that you are not finished with your story, Kami. Like Ragnarok, I can't seem to understand why something like that would shake someone like Maka the way that it did."

Kami nodded. "See, that's the thing." She reached for something out of sight again. "There's more." When she pulled back into sight, she had a laptop in her hands. She set it on her lap and began searching through the files for something. "Now, first of all, is everyone keeping up so far?" She looked around as everyone nodded.

"Now... I think it's not so much what happened that night that effected Maka... so much as what happened next." She seemed to find what she was looking for. "I happened to get the whole thing on video."

"Why would you do that?" Black Star asked suddenly. "Like did you just carry around a video camera all the time?"

"Well..." Kami sighed. "Maka had been trying for months to learn how to activate her weapon blood, with very little results. I thought that after what happened in Italy, she was finally getting it. Like, maybe there was a wall that she had finally gotten past. I had already been keeping a video log to track progress, and I wanted to get her first successful try on camera. I'm a mom, that's what I do."

"Now," she continued. "Maka was already a little shaken from the events in Italy, and I asked her why, because like all over you, I thought it was weird that something like that would bother her. She said that she didn't really care about the fact that she killed those men because they did try and kill us first, what bothered her was that she didn't know how she did it. She didn't like the fact that she had no control over it. She said she didn't even really remember what happened other than, she saw a knife to my neck and the next thing she knew, her dress was torn up and she was covered in blood and the men were all nothing more than carnage on the ground. The way she put it, I can understand how something like that would disturb anyone." She lowered her voice slightly. "But the way I see it, my daughter saved my life."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "As I'm explaining all this, I realize that it's a lot to take in." She looked at Soul again. "Because of what happened in Italy, Maka has certain triggers that she just can't handle. Large groups of people, for instance. It doesn't matter if she knows them or not. She can deal with large groups when people appear one at a time, but when there are suddenly a bunch of people, she doesn't like that. She doesn't like when a lot of people stare at her, and she doesn't like it when people sneak up behind her. All those things make her think of that one time that she had no control of her self and a bunch of people died. She has this intense fear that it will happen again. So..." She tilted her head. "Now do you all understand why your little surprise party was probably not the best idea?"

Guilt was present on all of their faces, but Soul's most of all. He had put his hand to his face, his eyes squeezed shut. He looked very close to tears. "I just wanted to surprise her..." He whispered. Kidd and Black Star both grip his shoulders comfortingly.

"Sweetheart, look at me." Kami said firmly. He did. "Do not blame yourself. You didn't know. This was not your fault."

He knew she was trying to comfort him, but her words meant next to nothing to him. He knew that Maka's breakdown was entirely his fault. Literally everything that upset her and caused her to panic, he had done. But then, something else occurred to him.

"What about those scars? And that tattoo?" He asked. "She didn't get those from that night, did she?"

Spirit suddenly looked up and his ex-wife again. "You let our daughter get a tattoo?"

Kami's eyes frosted over with anger again as she looked at him. In an effort to avoid another fight, she forced a smile, but it more or less just made her look scarier. "I don't know if you've realized this, _Spirit_, but our daughter is an adult. She did in fact have a birthday in the last six months. She's eighteen now. I don't _let_ her do anything. She can make her own goddamn choices." She looked away from him. "I don't expect that you would've remembered your daughter's birthday, since you didn't call or send her a card."

"I had no idea where the two of you were!"

Her gaze snapped back to him. "We stayed in London, at _your mother's_ house. Funny how _she_ can remember her granddaughter's birthday, even with dementia."

"Kami..." Shinigami said.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She turned back toward the rest of them. "Her tattoo actually does have a purpose. Anyway," She pointed to the computer in her lap. "I feel like you would all understand better why it is that Maka suffers now if you actually saw it. You wouldn't get the full effect if I just told you. Is that okay?"

Everyone seemed to nod in unison. Shinigami placed his hand on Kidd's shoulder again. "And you said you feel like this is what effected her?" He asked.

"I do." She clicked on a few things. "Just, a word of caution, I know you all deal with blood and violence and stuff like that all the time, but, considering it's Maka..." She turned the laptop around and tilted her mirror down so the image they saw was more the computer than her. The starting image was a picture of her, holding the camera out at arms length to face her. "Personally, I find it... a little hard to watch."

She clicked the play button.

Kami was walking, pointed the camera at herself. She wore a big smile. "So, I really think that today is going to be the day that my baby learns how to control her weapon blood. We have been practicing this for months and she hasn't gotten it yet, but after what happened in Italy last week, I think she'll finally be able to do it." She turned the camera around as she walked forward. "She's still a little shaken up from it, but I think she's ready."

Where they were wasn't clear, but it was some kind of foresty area. They seemed to be in a hotel or some kind of fancy building in, maybe the tropics? The building was old looking and made of stone. Kami walked outside a door and Maka came into view, sitting on the ledge, over looking a large garden area, filled with colorful flowers and beautiful trees, a river visible in the distance.

This event had obviously happened recently, as Maka was as physically mature looking in the video as she was present day.

She wore a light blue sun dress with pink flowers on it. Her hair was loose and pulled to over one of her shoulders and she twirled one long strand around her finger. Her back was exposed, and was clear of any scars or tattoo. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, and her face held a certain sadness to it.

The camera angle moved and shook slightly, and it could be assumed that Kami was also sitting on the ledge of the balcony. "How are you doing, sweetie?"

Maka looked at her mother with sorrowful eyes. "What's with the camera?"

Kami's voice was bright, a stark contrast to Maka's. "I just have good feeling about this today. And if you do succeed today, which I think you will, I want to have it on film. It's a mom thing, dear."

Maka looked back out over the garden. "I don't know if I want to do this anymore, Mama."

"Sweetie, you're so close-"

"I just," she sighed. "I'm a meister, not a weapon. I have a weapon, Soul is my weapon. I don't want to be a weapon."

"Maka, this gift of your's doesn't change your status as a meister, you're still a meister." The camera angle lowered slightly. "That's not actually whats bothering you, is it?"

Maka didn't look at her, just kept staring. "I'm scared." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I don't want... that to happen again."

Kami put the camera on her knee, facing the garden, Maka's bare feet were also in the shot. "Maka. What happened in Italy... you saved us. Your weapon blood saved our lives. That's no accident. We were in danger and it activated. I know you can do this. It'll be okay."

They could hear Maka sigh. "I'll... try. But... I still don't know about this."

"I promise, it'll be okay."

There was silence for a long moment, and then Maka put her hands over her face and made a frustrated sound. "I just... I just remember that man holding a knife to your neck and..." She looked at her mother. "Everyone's been saying that they've never met anyone with this weird half blood thing before, and I keep just thinking... what would've happened that night if I was normal? If my weird ass blood hadn't killed those people, would we be here right now?"

Kami was quiet for a moment, and then said, "I won't lie to you, we probably wouldn't be." She put her had on Maka's shoulder. "But, sweetheart, that's what I mean when I saw you were meant to have this power. Which is why I know you'll learn to control it."

Maka hugged her knees. "You saw 'power' like it's something special."

"Maka, you just said it yourself, that no one else had ever been born like this before. It is special. It doesn't define you, you've already done a plenty good job making a name for yourself at Shibusen without this. Just think of it as a bonus gift."

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Maka continued to look out at the garden. Her eyes were half lidded, like she was thinking about something. Finally, she sighed and buried her face in her arms. "I don't even know how I did it last time. That's what bothers me." She looked up again. "I literally killed a bunch of people and I have no idea how I did it. I don't like not knowing how the hell I _killed_ someone." Frustration was ever present in her voice. She put her hand to her forehead. "I just have such mixed feelings about it. I would like to be able to control it and be able to use it when I need to, but... I'm just worried that I'll never get the hang of it. I mean, it basically set itself off without my knowing it, what if that happened again when I was just... out at lunch with my friends?"

"I don't think that would happen." Kami said. "The two times it's happened before, it happened when you were in danger and had no other options. I don't think that your gift is a bad thing. It's saved your life twice already."

Maka still looked frustrated, but seemed to relax a little. "Well... maybe it's not meant to be controlled then." She looked at Kami. "I just... I still don't like it. It's like there's something inside me that has the potential to kill people and I have absolutely no say in it."

Kami set the camera on her knee again, this time Maka's legs were in the shot. "I can understand that. But that's why I think that you should still try and learn to control it. If nothing else, it will at least give you some piece of mind knowing that you have a say in when it happens."

Maka's arms wrapped around her legs lower than before. "Yeah... that's true."

"Alright then." Kami's voice softened. "Just it a try." She held the camera up to see all of Maka again.

Maka took a deep breath, her eyes slipping shut. She rested her face on her knees, her shoulders hunching slightly. She seemed like she wasn't really trying though. Before too long, she looked up again. Her voice sounded more breathless than before, like she was afraid. "I don't think this is going to work."

"It sounds more like you don't _want_ it to work."

"I don't." Her breathing had picked up considerably.

Kami noticed her panic immediately. "Sweetheart, calm down, nothing bad is going to happen. Remember, it's saved your life twice already-"

"Has it?" Maka interrupted. She seemed on the verge of a panic attack. "My weapon blood didn't defeat the Kishen, my fist did." She held up her hand for emphasis. "If it hadn't activated during that battle, we still wouldn't defeated him. And if it hadn't happened then, you and I wouldn't have in Italy at the wrong place at the wrong time, and we wouldn't have been attacked by that gang. I would've been perfectly content not even knowing I had this god-awful blood. As far as I'm concerned, it's caused more problems that any-" Her body jerked suddenly. Her eyes widened and fell out of focus.

"Maka?" Kami voice was filled with alarm "Baby, what's wrong?"

Maka untangled her limbs and held her hands to her chest, her gaze still unfocused and staring in front of her. She tensed and untensed, like she was going to vomit. She had begun to hyperventilate, her breathing coming in short, uneven gasps. And then suddenly, she went very still. She stared out in front of her, unmoving, her mouth slightly agape. A trickle of blood escaped the corner of her mouth.

"Maka, talk to me, what's happening?"

She didn't seem to hear her mother. She slowly reached up to touched the blood on her chin, and held her hand up to see what it was. She jerked again and her hand flew to her chest again, her teeth clenched, and something of a whimper escaped her. And then again, she went very still. "Mama..."

Scythes exploded forth from her back and shoulders, splattering blood everywhere. She made no noise, only sat hunched over with with wide eyes. Blood continued to drip from the blades. As fast as they appeared, the receded back into her skin. Maka went limp and fell back.

Kami dropped the camera. It landed with a thud and went fuzzy, but only for a moment. When it refocused, Maka could be seen on the ground, her back facing the camera. Her dress was torn open and her skin was shredded from the small of her back to along both shoulders. Blood oozed steadily from the wounds as Maka twitched violently in a growing pool of it. And... wait, was that bone?

Half of the group had to turn away from the mirror. Hands shot up to cover mouths, and Nygus whispered,_ "Oh my God..."_

Kami appeared in the shot, pulling Maka into her lap. She shouted for someone to call for an ambulance. Maka's eyes were glazed over, tears streaming from them. She continued to jerk and twitch violently, as if having a seizure, and more blood spilled from her mouth. She struggled to turn over, and with Kami's help, she turned to her side, now facing the camera, and vomited more blood onto the ground.

Kami shut the laptop slowly. She tilted the mirror back up to face her. She didn't speak. She didn't look anyone in the eye.

Shinigami looked around the room. Spirit was finally shedding tears, quietly, with his hand over his face. His teeth were clenched and his body jerked from his silence sobs. Stein's eyes were closed, his fist to his mouth like he was trying to keep something in. Marie was behind him, gripping his sleeve and resting her forehead on his shoulder. Tears were running down her face as well. Sid and Nygus were both very still and looking at the ground, their expression more or less hidden, but their postures and tightened grip on each other's hands indicated that they were shaken by what they had seen.

He turned his attention to the students. Tsubaki and buried her face in Black Star shoulder, and seemed to be crying as well. Black Star hadn't moved much, he still stood perfectly still and upright, but his expression... almost pained. Liz and Patti both still had their eyes squeezed shut, hands to their mouths from when they had turned away. Kidd, like Stein, seemed to be attempting to keep calm. His eyes were shut and his hand was over his mouth. Chrona had tears running down his face as he stared at the ground and gripped his arm.

Soul had completely turned around and stepped off of the platform of the Death Room. He faced away from everyone, his hands gripping his hair, and although he didn't look like it, Shinigami could tell he was crying.

Shinigami turned back to the mirror, his hand still on Kidd's shoulder. "Kami," he said calmly. "Do you know why it is that her weapon blood behaved like that?"

"I do." She said. Her voice sounded like the video had just her choked up as well. She cleared her throat, and adopted a very studious demeanor. "It's my professional opinion that the reason Maka... was wounded like this, was because the two side of her, the meister in her and the weapon in her, were not balanced. Does that make sense? She was rejecting her weapon blood, and it reacted accordingly." She put her hands together thoughtfully. "This was the first time that Maka thought of it as a separate being, if you will. She didn't accept it as part of her, and it was that lack of acceptance that caused the incident you just witnessed."

"So what now?" Shinigami asked. "What happened next? What state is she in now?"

Kami leaned forward again and sighed. "After what happened... Maka was unwilling to continue pursuing control of her powers. I couldn't disagree with her. Every night after that day, she woke up screaming in the middle of the night, she was in constant fear of it happening again. See, this is what I feel really caused Maka's PTSD. She's now conditioned to believe that her powers will hurt her. I couldn't bare to watch my baby go through that. So I had something done about it. Now, I have a friend who is a good witch. The tattoo you spoke of," She tapped her own shoulder. "That tattoo is actually a spell. That spell seals away her weapon blood so that it won't activate, ever again. The night after she got that tattoo was the first night she slept soundly." She paused and turned after. "God, if I hadn't pushed her so much..."

"Kami," Stein spoke up for the first time. "You said it yourself, we've never seen anything like Maka's powers before. You cannot be expected to be able to anticipate something like that happening. What happened to Maka was horrible, but you cannot be blamed for it. You were doing your job."

Kami sighed. "Thank you, Stein." She looked to Shinigami-sama. "Well, sir... that's our mission report."

**...**

**If anything was unclear, or you do not understand, please let me know and I will try to explain better.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I had a dream the other night that Maka and Soul were in the park, kissing, and Chrona saw them and started crying and got so upset that he turned into a dragon.**

**That has nothing to do with the story, just thought I'd share it with you. c:**

**...**

It was dark by the time they left the Death Room. As they all descended the steps of the academy, Soul dropped down to sit on the top step, his face buried in his hands. He said nothing, and his friend's almost didn't realize he had stopped. Chrona was the one who turned and saw him. "Soul?"

The rest of them looked and saw him. He shook ever so slightly and whispered just loud enough for them to hear, "It's my fault."

Black Star made his way back up the stairs and sat next to Soul, throwing an arm around his friend. "Soul," He said as the rest of them climbed up the stairs towards them. "I know I'm not really good at 'comforting' and stuff, but even I know that you can't blame yourself for this."

"He's right, Soul." Kidd said, sitting on Soul's other side. "You had no idea."

Chrona liked them. He liked their friendship. He liked the fact that, even when bad things happened, it was okay because they had each other. They were there for each other, supported each other, comforted each other. He wasn't used to it, but he admired it.

He thought of Maka's mother. He liked her too. She was really smart and really sweet. Anyone could see how much she cared about Maka. She didn't even know him, all she knew was that he had jumped in front of Medusa's arrow to save Maka, and that was enough for her to like him. She loved Maka so much, that was obvious. He could tell she was a good mother. Or at least, he thought so. He didn't really know exactly what normal mothers were supposed to be like, his own upbringing had him conditioned to fear his mother.

His mother. Medusa. Medusa, the witch. Maka's mother was nothing like Medusa. Medusa used torture to train him and fear to control him. In her eyes, he was nothing more than a tool, he knew this. For the longest time, he had thought that was normal, that's how it was done. But seeing other people, real people, people like Maka's mother, made him almost sad. He wondered what he would've turned out like if he had had a real mother. Mother wasn't even the right word for that woman. From what he had learned about mothers, based on what he saw and what other people told him, mothers were people who cared for you and loved you. Mother was not the right word for Medusa. She created him, but she didn't love him.

He would like to be able to say that he loved her, even if only when he was little, simply because he felt like that was something that a child did. A child loved their mother. When he had asked Maka how she felt about her mother, she has said, "She's my mother, silly, I love her." Like it was the most honest, natural thing in the world. Seeing Maka's mother, now he could understand why she felt that way. As for him, he had thought that what he had for his mother was love. He thought that was the reason he kept going back to her. That was the reason he just could not disobey her. Because he loved her. He loved his mother. He was just recently starting to realize that he didn't love his mother at all. No, what kept him obedient to her wasn't love. It was fear. Pure, unadulterated fear. He was so horribly afraid of his mother. He was plagued with nightmares that she wasn't actually dead. He was still afraid that she would come looking for him. He'd like to tell himself that he wouldn't obey her if she came for him, but deep down, there was still that fear. That fear that kept him loyal to her. He just didn't know how to deal with that fear.

Why was he thinking about this? This was not the time for this. He turned his attention back to the scene before him. What was happening again? Oh, yes, Black Star and Kidd were comforting Soul. They told him not to blame himself.

"I know that." Soul said, finally looking up. "Like, I realize that I had no way of knowing about her accident and all that other stuff, but..." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "What happened tonight, that _was_ my fault. This was her first day home in over half a year, and it was supposed to relaxing and fun and it was ruined by my dumbass ideas." He put his face in his hands again. "She even said she just wanted to relax today."

"Soul." It was Liz who spoke. He looked up at her and saw a firm, almost annoyed expression. Liz had a very no nonsense attitude, which was probably the result of dealing with someone like Kidd for as long as she had. "I can tell that nothing anyone says now is going to convince you to not blame yourself, but what's done is done. Sitting here, sulking about it isn't going to make it better. The only thing you can do now is go to her and make sure she's okay. Even though I'm sure she's calmed down by now, it's been a few hours."

Patti looked to her sister with a smile. "You're so smart, sis!"

Soul smiled weakly at her. "You're probably right... I should go."

Stein had suggested that all of them returning with Soul to his apartment was probably not the best idea, so Black Star, Kidd and their partners bid Soul good night and went their separated ways. Chrona stayed at the top of the stairs as Soul descended them. He looked back at him, one eyebrow raised. "What are you doing?"

Chrona seemed caught off guard by his question. "Um... I was just going to... go back to my room." He gestured back to Shibusen with his thumb.

Soul looked at him a moment longer, and then said, "Why don't you come back to my place?"

"B-but, Dr. Stein said-!"

"Stein said 'not everybody'." Soul smiled. "I don't think Maka will mind."

Chrona smiled weakly. "O-okay." He heard Ragnarok whisper in his head _I bet she'd just love to hit both of you at the same time._

"Ragnarok!" He said, louder than he meant to, his face turning beat red. Soul gave him a confused look. He chuckled awkwardly. "Heh... sorry."

...

Chrona and Soul didn't really have much in common. Maka was the only common interest they shared. In fact, this may or may not have been the first time they'd been actually alone together. Chrona clutched his arm. They walked in silence. He didn't know whether the silence was comfortable or not. He didn't know whether he wanted to say something or just stay quiet.

"Mama Albarn is pretty cool." Soul said.

"Huh?" That's not a real response. Say something better. "Oh, yeah, she was."

"She really let Spirit have it."

"Yeah." Chrona didn't really know much about Spirit. All he knew was that Maka wasn't fond of him because of something he had done.

"It's almost hard to imagine that the two of them used to be married."

"Yeah." Come on now, say something else, this is not how you have a conversation. "They are a little similar."

Soul looked over at him. "How so?"

"W-well... the way they both talk about Maka. They both go on about how amazing she is and how pretty she is."

Soul let out a chuckle. "Yeah, you're right." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "And you can tell they're both really possessive of her too. They both says things like 'my Maka,' or 'my daughter' or 'my child'."

Chrona smiled. Maybe this whole conversation thing wasn't so hard after all. "It's like that don't want to share her."

"Oh, absolutely." By that time, they had reached the apartment. Soul unlocked the door and they entered. The first thing they saw was breasts.

Blair grabbed them both, pulling them to her chest. Her outfit wasn't nearly as revealing as it usually was, she was clad in a normal sized tank top and silk pajama shorts, but her breasts still spilled over the top of her shirt.

"Soul-kun, thank God you're home!"

"Blair, let go!" Soul's voice was muffled by her flesh. He struggled to free himself. Chrona didn't struggle, but tensed up and was very still. Blair soon released both of them, and they gasped for air in unison. "What the hell, Blair?"

"Maka's gone!"

Previous annoyance forgotten, Soul's eyes widened. "What do you mean, she's gone? What happened?"

"I-I was laying down with her and she was crying and, poor thing, she was so embarrassed. She told me about how mortified she was and I asked her if I could get her anything and she asked for a drink, and I came back and she was gone."

"What, just gone out the window?!"

Blair looked away, a light blush on her face. "Weeeell, I may or may not have gone to the store for a bit."

Soul grabbed fistfuls of his hair in frustration. "Blair, Goddammit, why would you do that?!"

"Nyaaa!" She took a few steps back from his yelling and put her hands to her face in embarrassment. "I told her a fruity drink would make her feel better and she said that was okay!"

Soul and Chrona met eyes and exchanged an uncertain look. "S-should we go look for her?"

"Yes." Soul opened the door again and they stepped out.

"Blair will go too!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Soul said firmly. "You're staying here in case she comes back!"

...

Maka liked the feeling of sand under her feet. She also liked how warm the desert was, even at night. It wasn't so warm that she felt hot in her sweater, but warm enough that she was comfortable. She held her shoes in her hand, letting her bare feet feel the warmth of the sand. Not too far outside the city, she found a rock and sat on it. Her favorite part of the desert was that there was no one around. No eyes looking at her.

She looked back at the city. She had been all over the world in the last few months, and she had seen many great cities. But Death City was still one of the most interesting. It reminded her of a wedding cake. Probably not something most people would think of when comparing Death City to something, but the way it was shaped. It was like a big wedding cake, with tiers and levels. She liked living here. Going anywhere was a workout because of all the stairs you had to climb.

She looked up at the bleeding moon and sighed. She was absolutely mortified about what had happened back at her apartment. She felt bad for just up and leaving Blair without saying anything, but she didn't know when the others were coming back and she just didn't know if she could handle seeing them again after that. She had to mentally prepare herself. She buried her face in her hands. God, how humiliating. That was not at all how she wanted them to see her for the first time after being away for well over six months. And to make it worse, they saw her scars too. Stupid Black Star. She felt bad for hitting him, but that didn't mean she forgave him for pulling her shirt down like that.

She wanted to cry again. She knew her friends were just trying to do something nice for her, that was all that it was. She was so pathetic. Even her own friends scared her. Just when had she become this weak? They must think she was crazy now. If not crazy, then a coward. If any of them had been mugged in Italy, they would be just fine. But her pitiful ass went and made a whole big mess over it. She was worthless.

She had started to shake, so she took a deep breath in an attempt to still herself. She did have moments where she wished that she had learned to control her weapon blood, but every time she dwelled on it, her tattoo would start to burn. So no matter what, she had gained literally nothing on her mission. She couldn't use her weapon blood, in fact, her weapon blood damn near killed her, and if she tried to think about what it'd be like if she could use it, the spell on her back burned her for it. Literally nothing had been gained.

Well, actually, that wasn't exactly true.

She held her hands up where she could see them, and watched golden sparks flowed through her fingers. She smiled for the first time that night. Her mother had taught her how to shoot out her soul wavelength, just like Black Star and Stein could do. It wasn't necessarily special, lots of people could do it, but it was something she hadn't been able to do before. She tried to be optimistic, but it was hard when so many things had gone wrong. This was her one thing that didn't, so she celebrated that.

Wait, what was that? Was that...? No, it couldn't be.

"Maka!"

There it was again, she was sure of it that time. The voice was a bit far off, but she knew that voice anywhere. What was Chrona doing out here?

"Maka!" He was closer now. He had probably come out here looking for her. Well, obviously, he was calling her name, what else would he be doing? She didn't know if she wanted to go back yet though.

"Maka!" His tone had grown frustrated and desperate. She realized that the light of the moon wasn't enough for him to be able to see her from far away. If he was going to find her, she'd have to call back.

"I'm over here, Chrona." She didn't shout, as he was doing. She spoke just loud enough for him to hear her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. She was glad it was Chrona. On one hand, she was embarrassed about what happened no matter what, but on the other hand, she was comfortable enough with Chrona that she could deal with it. He would understand better than any of the others.

"Maka?" His voice was a lot closer now, lowered to a normal speaking volume.

"Over here."

He came into sight, stumbling in the scarce lighting. He saw her and came towards her. She didn't look at him. He felt around for the rock she was sitting on and sat next to her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. He didn't say anything more, like he could tell she wasn't lying. He fumbled for a moment in his pocket and pull out his cell phone. Maka watched him. The gang and her had all chipped in to buy him that phone so that they could get in touch with him easier. He had been so excited, he had texted her all the time once he learned how. His face was lit up by the phone's glow as he tap tap tapped on the buttons. "What are you doing?"

He looked at her and his face darkened slightly. Or at least, she thought it did. It was hard to tell by the glow of that phone. "O-oh, S-Soul was worried about you. I'm just letting him know you're okay."

"I'm not a fucking child." She said, looking to the ground. "Just because I leave, doesn't mean I'm dead." Her voice was quiet, barely audible. She spoke more to herself than to Chrona.

That was one of the big things that she dreaded once her friends knew about_ the thing_. They would worry about her all the time. She knew they would. She didn't fucking need to be babysat, she was a fucking adult. Her mother talking about that whole post traumatic stress thingy alot, and she just knew that they would see it as this whole big deal and make a bid fuss about it. Fuck that. Just because she had a fear of crowds and being stared at now... and being snuck up on... and things touching her back...

Goddammit.

She sighed. She realized that Chrona had stopped typing and was looking at her, wearing an almost scared expression. "I'm sorry." She said softly.

She could go on about how she didn't need them to worry all day long, but after a grand performance like the one she had just given them, what was she to expect? There really was no winning here.

Chrona put his phone back in his pocket and hugged his knees in the same way she was. They sat in silence.

Thinking about Chrona made her feel bad about herself. Maybe that wasn't the most accurate way to put it, but it was more or less true. Here she was with some scares on her back from being sliced open from the inside.

Chrona had scars from being impaled.

Thinking about all the trauma he had gone through since he was a child made her little ordeal feel like nothing. Here she was, screaming at being snuck up on, while he had been stabbed by his own mother. To save her life, no less.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, gripping the back of her head. What a fucked up situation this was. She couldn't stand it. She'd been attacked and then carved open from the inside because she didn't want her weapon blood, then her weapon blood was sealed away with a magic tattoo. But, oh wait, now when she thinks about wanting to try it again, too late, and her tattoo burns her. She can't handle crowds or being stared at, but she doesn't want her friends to think any less of her. And now, here was a young man who could probably look at her problems and laugh, having gone through worse and not complained about it.

God, she really was fucking pathetic.

"Your mother is nice." Chrona's voice startled her out of her thoughts. She looked over at him. He hadn't moved. "She looks alot like you. Liz thought she was your sister."

Maka could've laughed. She didn't, but she could've. They had switched roles. Usually he was the one plagued with inner demons and she was the one trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah... we get that alot."

"She really gave your dad an ear full." He wasn't sure, if that was appropriate to tell her right now, but he was just kind of saying whatever came to mind.

"Did she show you the video?"

He looked at her. She was still looking straight forward, hugging her knees. Her expression was blank. She didn't move. He stay silent for a moment. Should he say yes? If he didn't say yes, would he say no? But that was a lie. That video had been the first time any of them, aside from Kidd, had seen her weapon side. Her scythes were similar to Soul's in the pattern, but colored the same as Spirit's. It's not like he didn't believe that she had weapon blood before, but actually seeing it was like... for lack of a better word, proof. She really was half weapon. He knew was powerful before, but this... there was so much to her. It was almost baffling to think that so much power could be stored in such a petite frame. Barely contained, as it seemed, as that petite frame had been almost ripped apart by that power, as he saw just an hour before.

"...yes."

Still, she didn't move. She didn't say anything. She didn't even seem to be breathing. Or at least, that's what it looked like. He began to notice her shoulders quivering. Soon her whole frame shook. He could hear her breathing. It was quiet, but he knew it wasn't normal. Oh no, she was gasping in much the same way she had earlier that night.

"M-Maka...?"

He watched her hands ball up into fists atop her knees. Her hair had fallen in her face so he couldn't see it, and she slowly curling in on herself. She still made no noise, other than the airy sound of gasping.

"Maka..." He scooted closer to her and reached out his hand. He hesitated. He had reached out with the intention of embracing her, but he thought about earlier when Blair...

Slowly, he lay a hand on her shoulder.

She didn't scream, but jerked violently.

He quickly withdrew. "I'm s-sorry, I'm s-so sorry." He stuttered. He withdrew instantly, but her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. He strained to see her face in the dim lighting. It wasn't pitch black dark, the moonlight lit up the desert considerably, he could see her outline easily, but making out details was harder. She eventually looked up at him. She wasn't crying, there were no tears, as he had thought. She was just hyperventilating.

"No, I'm sorry." She seemed to be willing herself to calm down. "I-I just..."

She had not idea what she wanted to say. She looked away again. She was so overwhelmed with everything, she didn't even know what to do with herself. The knowledge that her mother had shown her friends that God awful video, a video she begged her to delete but she kept anyway, saying that she needed to show Shinigami-sama... knowing they'd seen that, for some reason, felt like her privacy was being invaded. She just wanted to curl up and not deal with this anymore. She wished this whole thing had never happened.

She realized she was still holding his wrist. She hesitantly released it and sighed. She had no idea how she felt. She was upset about everything that had happened to her, yes, but then there was Chrona who'd been through so much worse, and that made her feel bad. If he could put on a brave face (well, a normal face anyway), then she could too, right?

She looked back at him when she felt him gently take her hand again. He rested it in one of his own hands as his other hand began tracing simple patterns on it. He had turned his body to face her fully. He didn't look at her, keeping his eyes on there joined hands. The feeling of his fingertips on her hand was soothing. Simple, but soothing. It allowed her to concentrate on something other than her inner turmoil. She allowed herself to relax, curling herself. She turned to face him as well, folding her legs beneath her. She took several deep breaths. She willed her heart to stop racing and her chest to loosen up. Still, he didn't look at her.

"How do you...?" She stopped. She didn't know if that was a good thing to ask. Maybe she should just stay quiet. She was going to ask him something like 'how do you deal with it?' This wasn't his problem, he had enough on his own without her dragging him into her's. She had just been thinking earlier about how she didn't need taking care of. But... Chrona was different. For some reason, she felt like, if no one else, she needed him. Maybe because she felt like they were more or less in the same boat, but she felt like he was the only one who might have any idea what she was feeling. But, even still, she didn't want to burden him with her problems. It was enough to just sit here and take comfort in his company. She chuckled on the inside. She had always been his protector, she had been the strong one, and now here she was wanting nothing more than for him to hold her.

"Maka..." He said.

She looked up at him. His hair hung in his face, so she couldn't see his expression. Slowly, though, he looked up at her. He was smiling. Not the smile he wore when he was uncomfortable and didn't know what else to do, not the smile he wore when we was trying to be nice to someone, and certainly not the smile he wore when he was overtaken by madness. it was a real smile. It was a genuine, sweet smile. A smile that she had only seen once before, and that was when he was dying in her arms after pushing her out of the way of Medusa's arrow. It tugged at her heart. He averted his eyes from her's, shy.

"Believe it or not," he spoke slowly and softly. "I know a thing or two about going through something... awful." He didn't stutter. He looked at her again. "And sometimes... it does help to talk about it. Keeping it all in will just make it worse. So... I'm here if you need me."

Those eyes. That smile. It was enough to make her actually start crying. She lowered her head, hair falling into her face. She didn't really want to talk about it. At least, not right now. She felt his hands release her. She looked up ever so slightly to see him holding his arms out. He was inviting her for a hug. He dare not touch her first, because of_ that thing_, but his smile remained.

She threw herself to his chest, almost knocking him off the rock. She felt him laugh quietly, it sounded almost like something Soul would do. Her arms wrapped around his waist. His hands were less certain, awkwardly drifting around her sides, not actually touching her but wanting to, lingering everywhere except her back. She let out a soft giggle of her own, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "You don't have to be careful with me. As long as I know it's coming, I won't panic."

His hands hesitated, and then slowly wrapped around her. It was nice, sitting here with Chrona. Being in his arms. He made her feel safe. He made her feel so safe. Maybe it was just because of her current emotional and mental state, but at that moment, she felt like in his arms was the safest place in the world. "I'm always here for you." He whispered, smoothing down her hair.

Even though his actions were meant to be for her comfort, there certain desperation in the way he held her. Like he was afraid to let go. In all honest, he considered her his only real friend. The others were his friends too, of course, but she was the only one he could open up with. They shared a bond that he was unable to duplicate with anyone else. She was his anchor. She was the one who had saved him, and still now, she was the one who kept him from slipping into madness. The madness was always there, it would probably never fully go away, but she kept it at bay. Even when she was away, the knowledge that she would come back was what kept him going. She was so strong, she was always there for him. He was happy that, at least this one time, he could be strong for her.

...

They held hands as they walked through the darkened city. By the time they returned to her apartment, Soul had fallen asleep. He lay lopsided on the couch, a sleeping cat Blair on his chest. Even though Maka had gotten testy earlier when Chrona said he was going to text Soul that she was okay, he had sent it anyway, just to prevent Soul from worrying. Chrona stood in the doorway as Maka shook him awake and escorted him to his room, still half asleep. When she returned, he clutched his arm and looked around awkwardly.

"Do you want to stay?" She asked. "It's a little late to being making that long walk back to Shibusen."

"O-oh, it's okay." He said quickly. "I-I don't want to be any trouble."

"It wouldn't be any trouble." She insisted. "We have a really comfy couch."

He thought about it. He really thought about it. Staying at Maka's apartment for the night. Sleeping under the same roof as her. It was tempting. The more he considered it, the more he didn't want to make the trek back to the academy. And they had school tomorrow, was she going? They could walk there together.

For the first time since leaving the Death Room, he heard Ragnarok's voice in his head._ She'll probably crawl under your covers and try to suck your-_

"I-I can't." He said quickly. "I-I'd be too tired to walk to school tomorrow. By the way, are you going in tomorrow?"

Maka's shoulders tensed ever so slightly. "I was planning on it, but..." She looked away and sighted. "I'll see how I feel in the morning."

A small smile graced his lips. "Okay." She hugged him, and for the first time, he didn't hesitate when he hugged her back.

...

He didn't know whether or not he liked walking around Death City at night. It was pretty at night, the moon lit up the place, so it wasn't dark. But walking around Death City at night always reminded him of that one time, after Kidd's party... when Medusa found him.

He knew she was dead, Maka had killed her. No, Maka destroyed her soul. For her to come back a second time was just impossible. Don't even think about that. It was safe. It was safe now thanks to Maka.

His back tingled and Ragnarok settled onto his hair. "You should've stayed."

Chrona kept walking, he didn't respond. He knew that Ragnarok would just say something perverted. He was right.

"She was probably trying to seduce you by asking you to stay."

"Stop it." He said. "How long are you going to insist that Maka is like that? She's not."

"Well, she sure as hell didn't hesitate to show everyone what was down her shirt earlier!" He leaned down over Chrona's face. "Those were some wicked scars, huh?"

"First of all, she didn't show anyone, Black Star did that, and secondly-"

He stopped and went rigid. No. No no no, dear lord, no. That's impossible. No, this isn't right. There's some mistake. He dared peer over his shoulder. There was no one there. His fingers dug into his arm tighter than they ever had before. He was only vaguely away of Ragnarok yanking at his ear. He felt it. He was sure he felt it. There was no mistaking it. He knew that feeling all too well. But as soon as it had appeared, it was gone. Without hesitation, he turned and ran the rest of the way to Shibusen, not stopping for a second. He didn't answer Ragnarok when he yelled, asking what was going on. He barely even heard him. Eventually, he must have gotten tired of asking because he recoiled back inside Chrona's blood.

Only once he was safe and sound inside the walls of Shibusen did he allow himself to stop running. When he reached his room, he dragged his pillow off of his bed and curled up with it in the corner.

It was impossible. There was no way. But he felt it. He was so sure...

His phone buzzed in his pocket. With shaking hands, he retrieved it. It was a text from Maka.

_Thank you for being there for me. Sleep well. _

He set his phone down on the floor. Ordinarily, anything to do with Maka would instantly make him feel better. But not this time. He was so sure of what he had felt. It had chilled him to the bone, and the only thing that would comfort him now would be a hug. He wondered if it was too late to accept her offer of staying the night. No, he didn't want to go back outside. It wasn't safe. It was safe here. He would wait for her here, until the morning. He prayed that she would attend school tomorrow.

Maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe he was imagining things. It was impossible, after all. He was probably just being silly. But he was so sure...

He knew his mother's wavelength better than anyone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sometimes I go through and read chapters that I've already posted, and the amount of errors I find makes me sad.**

**...**

Soul had been so used to being the only one in the house to get up in the morning for so long, that the sound of Maka's hustle and bustle when he woke was almost startling. He glanced at his clock. Personally, he wouldn't have gotten up for another half hour at least. He had gotten his routine down pat of waking up with just enough time to get to school before it started. He was not the slightest bit interesting in being early. He supposed he'd have to get used to this again.

His door opened slight, and a fully dressed Maka poked her head in. "Soul?" She whispered. "Are you awake?"

He stretched out, loosening his muscles. If he didn't get up when she told him to, she would just pester him until he did, insisted that he would make both of them late. "Yeah, yeah, I'm awake."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure. Take your time. I'm going to go now though."

He paused. That wasn't like Maka at all. "Why so early? Classes don't start for another hour." He pulled himself up to a sitting position.

She stood idly in the doorway. "I-I know..." she said. She wasn't at all dressed the same as she used to. It was almost weird to think that the Maka that stood before him was the same Maka that always wore pigtails and mini skirts. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders. She wore jean shorts and a loose animal print cardigan atop a slim fit black t-shirt. A chain with a key hung around her neck. The cardigans sleeves reached only to her elbows, so he could see the collection of cuffs and bracelets on her wrists.

Oh yeah, that's right. She'd been traveling. Of course she would have a bunch of bracelets from other countries. She liked to collect things like that. And he recalled once how Liz had been going on about how much Maka's wardrobe was sure to have expanded. If she had sent Liz clothes from Paris, it only made sense that she would have gotten some for herself too.

"No mini skirts and sweater vests today?" He was teasing her of course, and he chuckled as her face darkened in color.

She shrugged awkwardly. "I must've gained weight or something over the past few months, because none of the skirts I used to wear fit me anymore. I tried them on and they don't cover anything anymore." He gave her a very strange look that she couldn't interpret. She decided to ignore it. "Well, I'm leaving now."

"You never answered me, why so early?" He said, sluggishly rising to his feet.

"I just..." She fidgeted. "I don't want to be the last one there."

Oh. That made sense. She didn't want to walk into a crowded room. She wanted to see her classmates come in one by one. That's right, her mother had mentioned that. No doubt everyone would want to see her after she'd been gone so long, and it would be better if she do that one at a time. "Okay." He said. "I'll catch up soon." He watched her slip on a pair of moccasins and hurry out the door.

...

Chrona had fallen asleep in the corner. It wasn't the first time that had happened, but it hadn't happened in a long while. Getting to sleep at all had been a challenge. For the first time in months, he had nightmares. He had nightmares about her. His body ached from being so stiff for so long. But he just hadn't been able to let himself relax. He was so sure of what he had felt last night.

The sunlight pouring into his room was a sign that it was okay to relax, even if only a little. Slowly, he stretched out his body. His muscles sang with both relief and pain. Legs stretched out before him, he leaned back against the cool stone wall. Even if it was only for a moment, he was so sure of what he felt. Should he tell someone?

He didn't really want to, he didn't even want to acknowledge it, even in his head. Saying something would just send everyone into a tizzy. That, or they would think he was crazy. It was impossible after all... right?

He thought of Maka. The last thing she needed right now was to be worrying about the return of a witch who had supposedly been destroyed. Besides, her Soul Perception was stronger than anyone's. If what he had felt last night had been real, surely she would've felt it too.

He sighed. He couldn't say for certain he knew what exactly Maka was feeling, but he had an idea. Even though she was clearly damaged from what had happened to her, she didn't want anyone to think any less of her. She didn't want to be babied or taken care of. He couldn't say he knew what that was like, per say, simply because he knew how damaged _he_ was and appreciated it when people tried to take care of him, but Maka was different. She was fiercely independent, he knew this. She was so strong, and he knew that she hated the fact that her accident had people looking at her as someone who needed caring for.

Whether or not she really did need caring for remained to be seen, though. If what happened last night was any indication, then clearly there was work to be done. But he would keep that thought to himself. It's not like he had any room to talk anyway.

He decided that, even though he was so sure he had felt something last night, he would just tell himself that it was his imagination. He was just being paranoid. He had felt it at the same time that he had been thinking how much Death City at night reminded him of that one night when she was there. Clearly, his mind was scared and playing tricks on him. He wouldn't even think about it anymore. If he did, he would just get himself all worked up for nothing. It was nothing, after all, right? I mean, it was impossible. Right?

But what if he was right? What if it hadn't been his imagination? What if he wasn't crazy and his mind wasn't playing tricks? His heart clenched up in panic. What if he really had felt...

He was startled out of his thoughts by a soft knock at the door. "Chrona?"

It was Maka. Thank God.

He called out to her, telling her to come in. The door slowly creaked open and she entered. She looked around the room before finding him sprawled out in the corner. "What are you doing over there?"

If it had really been Medusa that he felt last night, she would've felt it too. And if she had also felt it, that would've been the first thing she'd say. Well, that settled it then. He wouldn't think another thing about it.

"I just... had a nightmare." It wasn't completely a lie. "Sometimes the corner just feels safer."

She cocked her head to the side, but didn't pry. "Well, come on out of there, let's get to class." He could sense the anxiety in her wavelength. She was borderline panicking.

Oh, that's right. Today she would be returning to class for the first time in well over six months. People were sure to approach her, want to hug her, look at her. Not to mention that the class was, in fact, a large crowd. No wonder she was nervous. Without missing a beat, he pulled himself up, brushed off his pants and followed her out the door.

Of course, no one else was there when they sat down in the classroom. Maka chose seats in the middle row, more towards the far end than she usually had before. He assumed that was an attempt to limit the amount of people she would be in sight of. Maka had a way of knowing when people were looking at her. He always wondered if that had anything to do with her Soul Perception, or if it was just a separate gift she had. He eyed her outfit. It was hot out today, very hot, yet she still chose something that fully covered her back and shoulders. He supposed that was to be expected though.

She seemed alot more relaxed than she had been earlier. The anxiety in her wavelength had practically vanished. Class wouldn't be starting for at least another twenty minutes, but people would start pouring in soon. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

She looked at him and smiled. "Now that I'm actually sitting here, I'm not nearly as worried as I was. It actually feels really good to be back. I'm not nervous to see anyone, I feel like the crowded class won't be a problem, it's all just..." Her smiled widened and she shrugged. "It's familiar." She looked around the room. "I had always considered Shibusen to be... a safe place."

He smiled. This was his safe place too.

Soul was the first person there. He grumbled something about how he hadn't been this early to class since she left. He took the seat on Maka's left, Chrona was on her right. Kidd, Patti, and Liz were the next to arrive. Maka jumped up from her seat and ran to meet them at the door, embracing them all. She had seen them the day before, but never really got the chance to properly greet them. And even though neither Soul or Chrona could hear what she was saying, they could tell based on the way they pulled her into a group hug that she had apologized for her little episode the night before. As they stood in the doorway, more people arrived and, noticing Maka's presence, were more than eager to say hello and embrace her. Kim and Jackie, then Ox and Harvar, Kilik and the Pots, they all stopped to hug her, ask her questions, and praise her return, forming a small crowd by the door. Chrona and Soul weren't sure what to expect from this small crowd, but Maka was smiling and laughing and hugging everyone.

"You know," Soul said, and Chrona looked at him. "I'm not going to lie, I was really worried about this." He gave Chrona a slanted smirk. "But I think everything will be fine."

Chrona returned his smile and nodded. Maka was smiling and laughing. She would be fine. He looked back at her and watched as Thunder and Fire clung happily to her front and had to be pried off by Kilik. They all laughed and Ox, Harvar, Kilik and his partners all took their seats. Maka turned to Kim and Jackie, neither of which she had hugged yet. Jackie pulled her into a hug first.

"It's so good to see you, Maka!" She said, rocking back and forth from the force of her hug.

"I missed you guys so much!" Maka responded, Jackie released her and she reached out to embrace Kim. Kim reached out as well, but as soon as her hand grazed Maka's skin, she gasped and jumped back, a small spark jumping off her finger. The sudden action startled all three of them.

"What the...?" She stared at Maka, dumbfounded. Maka looked utterly bewildered, but she quickly realized what had happened. She looked around to see if anyone else had noticed, only to find everyone looking elsewhere. Jackie looked back and forth between them, confusion plastered to her face. Kim's eyes widened in realization. She extended a shaky finger towards Maka. "Is that...? Are you under a spell?"

Maka put her finger to her lips, desperate to avoid unwanted attention. "Yes, I am sort of, but please..."

Before she could finish, Kim nodded furiously. "I got you, I'll keep quiet." She stepped forward, minimizing the distance between them so they could speak quietly to one another. Jackie did the same. "What is that? Is it a curse, or a helping spell? Is it there on purpose? Did you have an accident?" Kim asked.

"It's a..." She should've known that Kim would pick up on it. It was witch's magic, and Kim was a witch. She would have to explain it all to her, but... not here. Not now. "It's a long story." She looked at her feet, suddenly very uncomfortable. Kim and Jackie were her friends, she wasn't embarrassed to tell them, but they were in public. She didn't want to talk about it here. She didn't want to talk about it at all, but she knew that Kim would be anxious for an explanation. "I'm not hurt, it's there for a reason. I'll tell you, but not now, please. "

Jackie smiled and put her hand on Maka's shoulder comfortingly. Kim did the same, but gripped her arm instead. "Did it hurt you?" Maka asked.

"Oh, no, it didn't hurt, it just surprised me." Her smile widened and she embraced Maka fully, paying no mind to the tingling feeling she got from the magic on her friend's back.

Jackie threw her arms around the both of them. "Frieeeends!" They shared a laugh and released each other. Maka was thrown off to be confronted by something like this so suddenly, but was comforted by how understanding her friends were.

Speaking of friends, there were two friends that weren't here yet. Where were...?

"YAHOO!" Speak of the devil, Black Star burst in through the door. It startled her. She knew he did this everyday, insisting on making a grand entrance, but she hadn't experienced it in well over six months. If he was here now, it meant class would be starting soon. He always made a point to arrive just before class started. That way, everyone would see him. He was oddly punctual like that.

Tsubaki shyly tip toes in after him. Her eyes landed on Maka, and without hesitation, the two ran into each other's arms. Maka felt a lump rise in her throat, as the first thing she did was beg for forgiveness for her breakdown the previous night.

Tsubaki released her and grabbed her shoulders. "Maka, no. Don't ask for forgiveness. You have nothing to be sorry for. You didn't do anything wrong. It was an accident, that's all."

Maka's heart swelled. Of all her friends, and she had many, she had always considered Tsubaki her best friend. She was as sweet as they came and she always put others before herself. Maka hugged her again. Tsubaki squeezed her tightly and stroked her hair a few times before releasing her.

Black Star approached them. He was about to say something, but before he could get it out, Maka threw her arms around him. He was taken aback by her action. He froze for a moment, but only for a moment, before gathering his wits. He placed his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest, Maka still clinging to him. "Yes, yes, Maka, your life must've been pretty dull without this shining star around, but don't worry, Black Star's back in your life again!" He followed it up with a roar of triumphant laughter.

Maka released him, his all too familiar, and frankly, obnoxious laughter getting to her. "I'm sorry I punched you." Her voice was quiet, whether from shyness or a lack of desire to be overheard, he couldn't tell. "I just kind of..." She looked down at her shoes. "Freaked out."

Black Star looked at her for a moment and then smiled. He pat her head affectionately. "Oh, was that a punch? I thought that you just had a new way of saying hello. And to be mad at someone as small as you over something like that wouldn't be very big of me."

She looked up at him, a small smile tugging at her lips. She knew that was Black Star's way of being nice, albeit it was a bit strange, she knew he meant well. One could never really hope for too much with him. They took their seats as Stein rolled into the room on his office chair. He smiled at Maka as she walked down the row. "Welcome back, Maka." He said in her direction, just loud enough her her to hear. She smiled in return.

Being back in class was strange. Very strange. She felt as though she had gone back in time. The only difference was that she was so much more aware of herself. Before when she had been here, she had immersed herself in the lecture, absorbing all the knowledge she could, not really noticing anything else. But now, she was very conscious of the fact that she was sitting in a large room with many people in it. Many people who hadn't seen her in a long time and were stealing glances at her. She could feel it. Stein's lecture was mere background noise.

It's not like it was an issue that she wasn't paying attention, she had already learned about this a long time ago.

She sighed. Being here in this class, learning this same thing, she really felt as though she had taken a step back. She had a great opportunity to go and learn how to utilize her new found powers, and she fucked it up. She did go and learn a great deal, absolutely, it was an amazing experience. But she felt like she was right back where she started. She had thought about it, and was almost certain that if she hadn't rejected her weapon blood, her accident wouldn't have happened. While she still did wish that she never had it to begin with (life would be simpler without it), she did have moments when she wished she could go back and try it again. Her blood hurt her because she rejected it. She didn't accept it as part of her. If she could've only just learned to embrace herself, all of herself, that accident would not have happened. More than anything, she wished she could do it all over.

She winced, drawing in a sharp breath through her teeth. Her tattoo began to sting.

_God, this fucking thing._

Chrona seemed to notice, because he laid his hand over her's. It was a simple gesture. He didn't look at her, he didn't even have to move much. A mere acknowledgment of her action. A way of reminding her that he was there. There for her. She smiled, slightly, and hooked her thumb around his fingers.

It was a small comfort, but her tattoo still burned. That was another thing that she hated. The spell was meant to seal away her weapon blood to prevent what happened that day from ever happening again. But it seemed like what it actually did was made the whole subject of the weapon blood taboo. If she so much as entertained the thought of using it, the spell burned her. Almost like a scolding. If she had learned to use the blood properly, she would not of had to get this godforsaken thing either.

It burned hotter.

She tensed. It had never burned this hot before. It felt like a branding iron was being held to her back. What kind of fucked up spell was this?

The hand beneath Chrona's twitched and tensed, and he fully took hold of it, interlacing their fingers. She immediately placed a death grip upon it. It didn't seem to bother him, his body was hard as lead after all.

She hated this. She hated that she had failed her mission, she hated that a part of her had been locked away just because she refused to accept it, she hated that she was punished for even so much as thinking about the fact that she was part weapon, and most of all, she hated that there was nothing she could do about it. She had wanted to seal the weapon blood away for her own safety. She had almost bled to death when it sliced her open. But in hindsight, she felt like she knew what went wrong and knew how to keep it from happening again. This spell was unnecessary.

Pain surged through her. It was so sudden, it was all she could do to keep from crying out. It was getting worse. She hadn't sighed up for this shit. The pain shot out from her back and coursed through her like a pulse. Each beat sent another surge all though her body.

Her grip on Chrona's hand tightened to the point where he could no longer ignore it. He had originally thought she was just nervous and close to panicking, but he was beginning to think other wise. He looked at her, not wanting to draw too much attention, for her sake, but also wanted to comfort her.

Maka was suddenly aware of nothing but the pain. She kept still and silent, almost as if not wanting to submit to it. Something wasn't right, it shouldn't be burning like this. This had never happened before. She felt sweat drip down the back of her neck. It became to much and she slowly lowered her forehead to rest on the tabletop in front of her. The painfully pulsing continued, steadily growing in intensity. It grew to the point where it was almost worse than being split open.

She began to shake. The nails of the hand that didn't have Chrona in a death grip clawed at the table. She was only vaguely aware of the wood chips collecting under her nails. All background noise went silent.

Once he heard nails on wood, Soul knew something wasn't right. He had been dazing off like he usually did, but the sound snapped him out of it. He looked and saw his meister head down, shoulders hunched, violently shaking next to him. He wasn't the only one. Her actions had earned her the attention of everyone in the room. Her hair pooled on the desk around her head, so seeing her expression was impossible. He put a hand on her shoulder and instantly withdrew it with a hiss. She was burning up, even through her clothes.

"Maka..." It was Stein who spoke. "Maka, what's wrong?"

She continued to convulse, both hands curling into tight fists on her desk, her one hand nearly crushing Chrona's. Everything suddenly seemed to go instantly silence and still, but the smell of something burning became present.

Before their eyes, smoke began to rise up off of Maka's back, and the back of her shirt, just between her shoulder blades, melted away. It started with just a pinprick of a hole, edges red and glowing with embers, which quickly spread out.

"Okay, everybody out." Stein's voice was somewhere between stern and panicked. He rose from his chair and crossed the room as everyone else rush out the door. A few people remained, but Maka couldn't tell who. The hole in her shirt grew until her tattoo was visible. It was glowing white and seemed to be moving almost. No, it wasn't the tattoo itself, but the glow within it. The glow was traveling through the written words like a spark along a wire, as if the spell was reading itself.

Once there was no more clothing covering the tattoo, the hole in the cloth stopped growing. The tips of her scars were visible as well. Still, she was silent and unmoving. Stein put his hands on her still clothed shoulders, but drew back just as Soul had. Even if it was just the tattoo that was causing the burning to her, her whole body was hot. "Maka, can you hear me?" She didn't answer.

"Dr. Stein, what's going on?" Soul asked in a panic. The unsure look on Stein's face was very unsettling.

"Someone get Nygus." Stein said, never looking away from Maka's still glowing back. Someone ran out of the room, but they didn't pay attention to who.

Suddenly, Ragnarok appeared from Chrona's back. "Chrona, let the bitch's hand go, it's burning up!"

As soon as he spoke, Maka's hand instantly opened up, still ridged and tense, and Chrona retracted his. They all looked and saw crescent moon shapes on his skin, black blood oozing out of them. Maka's head was still on the table, hair shielding her face.

Chrona, Soul and Stein were so preoccupied, they didn't notice Kim make her way over until she suddenly smacked her hands down over Maka's tattoo, muttering something too quiet to hear. Steam rose up from their connected skin, but Kim didn't seem to be distressed by it. Slowly, the steam dissipated and Maka's body relaxed. Kim rubbed her back, whether to comfort her or work more magic, they couldn't tell.

"Maka." Stein said again. Still, she didn't answer. Kim, who stood fully behind her, took her by the shoulders and slowly pulled her up to a sitting position. Her head still hung down, hair in her face, and her shirt slipped out her shoulders, quickly caught by Kim.

Stein took her fist in his hand, which had blood dripping from her palm. He gentle coaxed it to open, revealing deep nail marks. He laid it on the table, palm up. He shooed Soul and Chrona to back away. "Give her some space." They complied.

"Come on, Maka," Kim said soothingly. She rubbed her cheek with the back of her fingers, and attempted to get her to look up. Hesitantly, she did. Her face was wet with tears and her lower lips was trapped inside her teeth, a trickle of blood going down her chin as well. Bu the most unsettling thing was her eyes. They weren't sad. They weren't scared. They weren't even the least bit upset. Her eyes were half lidded, glazed over with murderous intent.

Kim managed to get her to open her mouth, just enough for her lip to slip free, a row of bloody teeth marks across the middle of it. Maka paid Kim no mind. She was unaware of Kidd and Black Star throwing worried looks at her from behind Stein. Patti, Tsubaki, and Liz's presences were unknown to her. Soul and Chrona could've been gone for all she cared. In that moment, the only two people in the room were herself and Stein. She gazed at him through thick lashes. She barely registered that he spoke, telling the others, "Nobody move."

These fucking people. They were awful. They thought that she needed to be taken care of and watched over. One little accident and it's like she was fucking handicapped. All of them had had similar accidents before, why was she so special? They didn't take her seriously. To them, she was just a little girl in a mini skirt. All they cared about was power. She hadn't been able to prove her powers were controllable, so they brushed her off as a child who couldn't do anything. Idiots. Even now, they all looked at her like she was weak. Like she needed saving. She wasn't some little girl waiting to be rescued. She could take care of her goddamn self. Did any of them defeat the kishen with their bare hands? Did any of them win against and then tame a demon sword? Did any of them have both meister and weapon blood? She was more powerful than all of them. But did they see that? Of course not. They only saw what they wanted to see. In fact, it was there fault she was in this goddamn mess in the first place. All they cared about was power. That was the only way to earn their respect. They had sent her away to get stronger, and she almost died because of it. And now with this fucking spell, she was stuck. She hadn't done what they wanted her to do, so they brushed her off and sent her home. They were heartless. They were nothing but trouble for her. She should just kill them all right now.

She blinked, the fog lifting from her mind. The burning was gone, but in it's place was a dull aching. She realized everyone was staring at her, making her instantly uncomfortable. She looked down at the table, noticing her bloody palm. She could taste blood too. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

She felt the gazes leave her, and Kim took her chin in her hand, guiding her to turn her head. "Let me see." She placed her fingertips over Maka's lower lip. "_Tanunucoon Raccooncoon Ponpon Ponkitanu Pon Pon Pon_."

She pulled her fingers away, and Maka's tongue darted out to run over her lip. "Thank you..." She said quietly. Kim did the same to her palm.

Maka stared at her hand, wondering what had just happened. She slowly began to realize that the pain in her back hadn't left. It was still very much there. The only improvement was that it wasn't getting any worse. She felt weak. She heard someone speak. Were they talking to her? Probably not. She could see Kim healing Chrona's hand out of the corner of her eye. Her vision went fuzzy. She realized the voice was in fact talking to her. Who was that? Who was speaking? She couldn't understand it. Her body felt so heavy. Why was she suddenly so exhausted? She hadn't even done anything. She swayed. Her eyelids were so heavy. She could rest them for only a moment, right?

She felt a thud against her side. Her head rolled back. Oh, she must've hit the floor. Her senses were dulled to the point where she could've been asleep. She was aware of everything, but couldn't make heads or tails of it. She heard voices, shouting in fact. There was noise. So much noise. Please be quiet.

Her eyes were open, barely. She felt her lids flutter in an attempt to stay open. Everything was blurry. She could see colors, and barely could make out shapes. What was going on? Why was everyone so frazzled?

She felt hands on her. Whose hands were those? Stop touching me. More hands. She recognized those hands. Those were Chrona's hands. There was so much movement, it was hard to keep up with it, but from what she could tell, he had pulled her head into his lap. Well, that was nice of him.

She couldn't see him though. Her gaze was fixed somewhere on the ceiling, and not even that was in focus. She couldn't tell whether she liked this or not. On one hand, she had no idea what was going on. Her logical mind was elsewhere, her thoughts clouded, senses dulled. But on the other hand, she was comfortable. She could tell the pain was still there, but she couldn't feel it. She had trouble feeling anything.

She could see movement, but still couldn't tell what it was. It was like something was moving around her. And then suddenly, she was moving. How was she moving? She realized she was in someone's arms. Someone was carrying her. Who was doing that? Put me down please, I don't want to go anywhere.

She felt something wet drip down her chin. Was she drooling? Gross. That's not attractive, Maka, what are you doing? Wait, no, that wasn't drool. She tasted something coppery. Oh, it was probably blood. At least it wasn't drool.

She felt her senses start to come back alittle. Her head still lulled around and she saw the color blue. Oh, it was Sid that was carrying her. She felt herself being laid down. The surface on which she lay was soft. It was alittle cold, but nothing a few minutes of body heat couldn't fix. She still couldn't hear anything. She felt something in her arm. What the hell was that? That was not at all pleasant. Stop it.

Her senses were silenced completely, her eyes slipping shut.

...

**If any of y'all are interested, I do sketches that go along with this story sometimes. They're on my tumblr, which you can find on my profile here.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Your reviews make me smile. c:**

...

Soul, Chrona, and the rest of them waited outside the nurses office. Tsubaki, Liz, Patti, Jackie and Kim sat against the wall, Black Star kept himself busy by doing pushups, Kidd sat in a chair not far way, and Soul paced back and forth in front of the door. Chrona also sat against the wall, but alittle ways down from the rest of them. He was curled up, arms around his knees, head hanging down.

"Soul," Liz said, watching him pace. "I'm sure she'll be okay. Just relax."

Soul looked at them, the worry plastered to his face. He started worrying when Maka started clawing her desk, panicking when her shirt started melting, and hyperventilating when she hit the floor. His breathing hadn't returned to normal. He certainly would not be calmed just because someone told him to relax. "How the hell do you know that she'll be okay? Do you what the hell happened back there? Because I certainly don't."

"Soul." It was Kidd that spoke. "Don't be like that. We're all concerned for Maka, she's just trying to help."

He took in a deep breath. He knew they were just trying to help, but he didn't like being in the dark. He stopped pacing for a moment and willed his heart to return to normal, then he looked back up at them. "I know, I'm sorry. I just want to know what's going on."

"It's okay." Liz said. Soul took a seat on the floor against the wall opposite of them. He allowed his head to roll back, eyes shutting. Liz watched him. She knew how worried she was about Maka, and could only guess how much more worried he was. None of them had known what happened. After Sid and Nygus got there, Sid carefully picked her up and carried her to the hospital wing. She jerked a bit in his arms and gargled up blood. They all tried to follow her into the nurse's office, especially Chrona and Soul, but Nygus shooed them out real quick like and shut the door, only herself, Maka and Stein remaining inside. The last thing they saw was Stein give her a shot in the arm, and her eyes fall shut. Sid had gone back to take over the class, but they had all elected to stay.

Liz felt Patti take her hand and squeeze it. It was true, they were all worried for Maka. Liz looked to her left, where Kim and Jackie sat. Tsubaki and Patti sat to her right. Jackie had been the one who had ran and gotten Nygus, and Kim...

Wait a second.

"Hey, Kim." She said. Kim looked at her. "You did something back there. What was it?" Everyone seemed to perk up at this, curious for her answer. Soul looked up, Black Star stopped doing pushups, and even Chrona turned to look at her. None of them had much of an idea of what happened, but if anyone knew anything, it was Kim.

Kim took in a breath, and released it. She shrugged. "I just..." Her eyes darted around, as if thinking of something. "All I did was perform a soothing spell. I couldn't tell you exactly what that was that happened, but if I had to take a guess..." She sighed, like she wasn't even completely confident in what she was saying. "I don't know, but I get the feeling that... that spell on her back isn't doing what it's supposed to being doing. I get the feeling that it's a... bad spell."

Chrona tensed visibly, and had he not been a few feet down from everyone else, they would've certainly noticed. A feeling of dread bubbled up in his chest as he remembered what he had felt the night before. He said he wasn't going to think about it anymore, but he couldn't help it. What if...?

"Whoa, whoa, what do you mean, a bad spell?" Soul asked.

"I just..." Kim shrugged against, obviously uncomfortable. "Normal, a good spell, which is meant to help someone, had a good feeling to it. It's hard to explain, but I can just tell. A bad spell, whether it is performed wrong or if it actually... was meant to harm someone... those spells just have a bad feeling to them. I didn't get a bad feeling from her spell this morning when I first felt it, but after it started... smoking like that..."

There was a sound. It sounded like it was coming from the staircase just down the hall. Footsteps. Very fast footsteps. Someone was running. They all turned to look. A shadow could be seen coming down the stairs.

Spirit. It was Spirit.

He nearly tripped from the speed in which he descended the staircase. When he reached the bottom, he had to take a moment, a very brief moment, to regain his composure before continuing down the hall at top speed. Paying no mind to any of them, he approached the door to the nurse's office and banged on it loudly. "Stein! Nygus! Let me in!"

"Spirit, don't waste you breath." Black Star said, returning to his pushups. "Soul did the same thing for about ten minutes. They aren't going to answer."

Spirit didn't look at him, only muttering under his breath. "Well, Soul's not her father, now is he?"

An annoyed expression made it's way to Soul face, and they thought he might say something, but he decided that it was not the time nor place for such a petty argument. Spirit continued to bang on the door. "Stein, I'm serious! Let me in!"

It opened. Stein stood with a cigarette in his mouth. Soul jumped up and tried to see in behind him, but the curtain was drawn, blocking his view, and Stein didn't move to let any of them in.

"Stein, what's going on?" Spirit demanded, trying to push past him, but failing. "Maka's in the hospital wing and I have to hear about it from Marie in passing? What happened to my daughter? Let me in, dammit!"

Spirit was more or less ignored. Stein's glasses gleamed in the sunlight pouring in through the windows, making his eyes unseen. "Kim." He said. "Nygus needs your help."

Kim looked surprised, but didn't ask any questions. She stood, and approached the door. Spirit moved aside to let her pass, and Stein stepped aside as well. She entered the room as Stein stepped out, shutting the door behind him.

"Stein, for God's sake, what's wrong with Maka?" Spirit asked. "Why are you coming out here?"

Stein took a drag from his cigarette, his eyes still hidden. "Well, Spirit." He blew the smoke out through his nose. "I can only assume that, as her father, you'd agree that it would be inappropriate for a male teacher to be present while a female student was topless."

He made his way down the hall, leaving them all utterly bewildered and Spirit more confused then ever.

...

Kim wasn't exactly sure why Nygus needed her help, she wasn't exactly a medical specialist, but she could only assume it had something to do with the fact that what they were dealing with was magic centered, and she was a witch. Nygus probably needed her for knowledge more than anything. She could still hear Spirit banging on the door, shouting now, but she knew better than to acknowledge it.

Nygus pulled back the curtain around Maka's bed. "Oh, there you are. Come here, please."

Kim followed her around to Maka's bedside, and took a seat in the chair she gestured to. Nygus sat across from her on Maka's other side. Kim looked down at Maka. She was out cold. Even in unconsciousness though, her expression was... uneasy. The blankets were pulled up to her neck, but Kim could still see that her chin was still slightly stained from earlier when she had spit up blood.

She heard Nygus sigh and looked up at her. Her eyes were cast downward, but she soon looked up at Kim as well. "Kim..." She started. "I just want to start off by apologizing for this. Curing ill students is absolutely not your responsibility, and I just know that Maka would hate for you to see her like this, but I'm afraid that I really need your help here.."

Kim nodded. She didn't know how much she could do for Maka, but she would try her best.

Nygus continued. "Also, I have to commend you jumping in and helping her like that. Stein told me what happened. You knew exactly what to do when no one else did. Which is why I have to say that you're probably the only one who has any idea what it is that happened back there."

Nygus waited. Most of her expression was hidden by her bandages, but her eyes were expectant. Kim felt slightly pressured. The others had asked her a similar thing, and she still couldn't give a straight answer. The truth of the matter was that she had no idea what it was that was on Maka's back, or what it was for, but she knew it wasn't good.

"Well," She looked down at her lap. "Um, if I may... you wouldn't happen to know what that spell was for originally, would you?" She felt like that was something the teachers should know. Someone, maybe Maka's mother or father, should've explained it to them. She personally wasn't very skilled in the art of Soul Perception. No, that was Maka's thing. But there were other students and staff that could do it. Not as well as Maka, but they could still do it. Kidd was one of them actually. But even still, Kim didn't need Soul Perception to know what happened when someone had a curse or spell on them. Not always, but more often then not, having a spell or curse on you would change you. Your soul, to be specific. It didn't change your soul itself, but it change the way other's perceived your soul. The spell Maka had on her was strong enough to do that, certainly. Kim felt like something like that should be know by the staff, at least.

Nygus was silent for a long moment. And then finally, she sighed. The events leading up to Maka's tattoo were for only Maka to disclose to the other students. It was none of her business. Not her story to tell. But... what had happened today was serious. When she had been brought here, she was in critical condition. It might not have seemed like too much, but it was bad. Very bad. She wasn't able to pinpoint the cause, she was hoping Kim could help with that, but she didn't need to know the cause to know that there was much internal damage. If it wasn't corrected soon, Maka's earlier episode could turn into a regular occurrence, until it finally did her in.

This was important. She had to do something. She couldn't do it on her own, she wasn't a witch. She knew nothing about magic. Kim could help, but she couldn't help if she didn't know what was going on. Nygus took a deep breath, and released it, and told Kim everything Kami had told her.

...

Pain. There was so much pain. Why did it hurt so bad? It shouldn't be hurting this bad.

The whole point of this was to make the pain stop. Stop. Mama, make it stop.

This wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to do this. This was meant to help, not hurt. She was almost better off before.

Well, she was fucked no matter what. But at least before, it would kill her quickly, instead of drawing it out like it was now.

She whined, twitching slightly as she did so. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. Where was she? What happened? She couldn't remember. She had a hazy memory of her head laying in Chrona's lap, but that was all. She was horribly uncomfortable. It wasn't the surface she lay on exactly, it was her body. She was sore and achy and hot, and her back felt like she was laying in a pile of needles. She whined. It wasn't because she wanted to whine, but that was the only sound that would come out of her mouth. She wiggled slightly, hoping that would stop the prickling feeling, but it didn't. It wouldn't stop. It wouldn't go away. She tossed her head back and forth, desperate for some comfort. Her movements felt sluggish. Her body was moving slower than her mind. So much slower, in fact, that she felt almost paralyzed. There was a weight on her, prevent her from moving. She tried to thrash around, just to do something, but all that happened was her body shuddered. She shook violently, twitching around as if she were having a seizure. She screamed.

She was scared that her scream would be as toned down as her movements were, so she put everything she could into it. But, unlike her movements, her scream erupted from her with every bit of force she had. It was a blood curdling scream, so loud that she hurt her own ears. She didn't care. She was scared. She still couldn't move properly. She continued to shake.

There was a loud thud, followed by shouting. She could barely hear what they were saying over her own volume, but it was a man's voice. His shouting was followed immediately by a woman's voice. Maka could hear her say, very clearly, "Spirit, get out!" Her screaming stopped.

A horrible gasping sound erupted from her throat. Her body jerked violently, back arching, as her head rolled back on the pillow. She froze up for just a moment, remaining perfectly still and silent, and then went limp, falling back on the bed. It took her anything moment before her breathing started again, sucking in oxygen in deep, choppy gasps.

Her eyes shot open. She looked up just in time to see Nygus shove her idiot father out of the room and slam the door shut. She could see Soul behind him, and others behind Soul. He met her gaze for only a moment before Nygus shut the door. She realized someone was holding her hand. It was Kim. She looked at her and saw that she had tears in her eyes. She looked back at Nygus, who had made her way back over to the bed, and stroked her hair from her face. "Are you alright, Maka?"

She tried to respond, but the only thing that come out was a dry squeak. So she nodded instead. She felt so weak. And she still couldn't remember what happened.

"Can you sit up?"

She didn't want to, her body still ached, but she certainly wouldn't get any better if she just stayed there on her back. She tried to sit up, assisted by Nygus and Kim. She had expected the pain to intensify when she tried to move, but it didn't. It didn't feel any better, but it didn't feel any worse. As the blanket fell to her lap, she realized that she was only in her bra. Why was she in only her bra? She didn't care, it was just Kim and Nygus there, but it made her more curious as to what had happened to get her here, in just her bra.

She tried to speak again, to ask what happened, but her voice still hadn't returned. Her throat was dry and scratchy. She coughed into her lap, hoping to clear her airway to allow her voice to come through. She looked down and saw blood on the sheets. Not that much, but it was mildly alarming none the less. She tried speaking again. "What... happened?"

She hadn't been watching either of them, but Nygus suddenly had a washcloth in her hand and wiped her mouth with it. There was a little blood there too. "Don't be too alarmed," She said, tossing the rag into a nearby sink. "That's probably just left over from earlier."

Left over from earlier? What?

"As for what happened," Nygus looked at her with inquisitive eyes. "You don't remember?"

Maka shook her head. Nygus looked somewhat puzzled. "Well..." She looked away thoughtfully. "Something happened with that tattoo of your's. It burned your shirt right off your back. And then you passed out."

It was a summarized version, Maka knew, but what more did she expect? She didn't remember any of that. Last thing she remembered was sitting in class and thinking about...

Oh. Wait. That's right. Pain. She definitely remembered that.

"Alright, now I'm just going to take a look." Nygus moved to look at her back, coaxing her to lean forward slightly, and that's when it occurred to her just how exposed she was. She flinched, wanting to cover her scars, but she didn't. Nygus had been there when Shinigami-sama had talked to her mother. She had seen the video, along with all the others. Hiding her scars now would be more or less pointless.

"What do you think, Kim?" Maka had almost forgotten Kim was there, she had been so quiet. Kim quickly wiped her face on the back of her sleeve and peered around to Maka's back.

Kim hadn't seen the video, or her scars, but there was really no point at all in hiding now, was there? Maka imagined that someone had probably explained it all to her if she was here now.

Kim placed a feather light hand on Maka's shoulder. She tensed from this, but made no more movement than that. Kim breathed deeply, and a shutter ran through her. She retracted her hand and pulled back. "I-I... I just don't..."

"What is it, Kim?" Nygus encouraged.

"I just... I get a bad feeling from it... I don't know what it is, but..."

"Will someone... Tell me..." Maka's voice was still scratchy, but she forced the words out. "What... the hell... is going on here?"

Both Kim and Nygus stepped forward where Maka could see them. Kim looked away, shy or scared or worried, she couldn't tell. Nygus's expression was, as always, unreadable, but her eyes were sincere. "Maka, I'm sorry." She said, placing a hand on her knee. "I should explain what's happened. See... that spell of your's is supposed to seal your weapon blood away, yes?" Maka nodded. "Well, honey, there's a possibility that something very wrong with it then, because it's doing bad things to your body. You have got some serious internal damage, and I need to know whether it's from that spell or something else. That's why Kim's here." She nodded in Kim's direction. "I'm not a big magic person myself, and Kim's magic is healing. I didn't even ask if her being here bothered you, I'm sorry. Is that okay?"

Maka nodded viciously. She was glad Kim was there. It was a comfort to have a friend there, but that didn't take away the shock of what Nygus was saying.

Maka knew that the tattoo wasn't doing what she was told it was supposed to do, it punished her for so much as thinking about her weapon blood, but to think that was because something was actually wrong with it? And internal damage? What did that mean? That was scary, she didn't like that at all.

"So..." She croaked out. "What... now?"

"Now," Nygus said with renewed determination. "We try and see if we can figure out if the cause of all this is that spell, or something else. But between us..." Her voice lowered. "I don't think it's something else. But we have to be sure first."

Great. Today was such a good day. She absolutely did not regret getting out of bed today.

Kim and Nygus helped her sit up fully and turn sideways, her back facing the side of the bed. She pulled the blankets around her lap and stomach. She was still wearing her shorts, of course, but she had a feeling she would need something to grip onto. She had no idea what they planned to do, but she was not looking forward to it. It wasn't cold in the room, but the air on her back was unsettling all the same. She had been conditioned in the previous months to cover her back all the time no matter what. To be so opened like this... she didn't like it.

She felt so weak. Not physically in that moment, but she felt like this was something that only the weak needed. She had been going on in her head for the past few days about how she could take care of herself and she didn't need caring for and there was nothing wrong with her. yet here she sat, in the hospital wing, with a hoard of people waiting outside, because of some incident that she couldn't remember. She didn't want to be perceived as weak, but she kept giving them reason to do just that. Pathetic.

She felt a hand on her back. It was Kim's. She held it there for a long moment. Too long. Maka didn't like her back touched. Whatever they had to do, she wanted them to just do it.

Kim sighed. She sounded frustrated. "I just... I can't..." Her hand slid off Maka's back. "Earlier, this spell felt fine to me. But now... ever since that thing happened back in class... Bad spells have a certain feel to them, and this kind of feels like that..."

"Kind of?" Nygus asked.

"I don't know." Kim sighed again. "Good spells have a certain feel too, and this doesn't feel like a good spell."

Maka didn't like this. She felt like she was on display. If it had been anyone besides Nygus (because she was the nurse and Maka knew her) and Kim (because she was a friend and also a witch who could help), Maka would've said no and just gone home, no questions asked. As far as she was concerned, whether it was a good spell or a bad spell, what difference did it make at that point? It was tattooed on her, it's not like she could just wash it off. She was stuck with it no matter what. What did they propose she do, burn it off?

Nygus sighed. She placed a hand on Maka's shoulder, but she sensed it was meant to comfort more than anything. "Alright, well... we can't do anything about that until we know for sure, so let's just focus on-"

"Wait a minute." Kim's voice had lowered in volume. "Chrona."

No no no. Chrona was not coming in here too. It's not that she wasn't comfortable with him, but that would just be embarrassing. She didn't want him to see her in such a state.

"What about him?" Nygus sounded confused. Maka couldn't see her, but she could almost hear her eyebrows furrowing together.

Kim hesitated in answering. "Well... he'd probably know a bad spell when he saw one." She said sheepishly. "I mean... you know... his mother..."

Nygus was silent. Please don't agree to that, he didn't need to see her like this. He was the one person who didn't see her as weak, don't show him something like this that would make him change that view.

"Maka," Nygus spoke at last. "Are you against Chrona coming in here? I can give you a hospital gown to cover your front if you'd like."

Say no. Say absolutely not. Tell her that if she lets him in, me and my fucked up looking scars are out.

"He can come in." Dammit, Maka, that's wrong! "And...it's... okay. I don't need a... gown." No, that's not what you were supposed to say! And your voice is still broken, don't talk while he's here, you'll just look pathetic.

She pulled the blankets up to her chin. She was still in her bra, and honestly, she didn't even really care if he saw that, but the idea that he would see her scars all up close and personal like...

She didn't feel good. She felt ill. She was going to pass out again.

Nygus crossed the room, drawing the curtains around her bed closed, and opened the door a sliver.

She must've been shaking, because Kim put a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Relax, it's okay."

She could hear her father demanding entrance to the room again, which Nygus ignored. "Chrona, could you come here please?"

Okay, Maka, calm the fuck down. It's not that big a deal. Why are you so goddamn nervous?

Footsteps. She wasn't looking, but she sensed Chrona's soul getting closer. He stood in front of the door. Nygus spoke in a hushed voice. "Any chance you'd be willing to help us out with something?"

She heard him respond with a quiet and uncertain, "I could try."

"Come in. I'll explain."

She could feel herself shaking now. She heard Spirit continue to yell about being let in, but Nygus shut the door in his face. She could hear Nygus speaking to Chrona, but she was far too busy having a panic attack to pay attention to the actual words being spoken. She could hear her heart beating in her ear. Why was she so nervous?

Kim padded around the table to stand in front of her. She took her by the shoulders and pulled her in to lay against her chest. "Here, lean on me and you'll seem like you're out of it."

God, was she that obvious? Could she really tell how nervous she was? Kim was a good person. "Thank you." She whispered. She forced her body to relax and lean against Kim. She laid her head against her shoulder, facing the wall. She didn't want to see Chrona's reaction to seeing her scars up close.

"Maka," It was Nygus's voice. "We're coming in now." She heard the curtains open. She felt his gaze on her.

Her eyes slipped shut. She bit her lip. Then she heard a voice that, for whatever reason, she didn't expect to hear.

"Damn, bitch, you really did a number on yourself." It was Ragnarok. Why hadn't she seen that one coming? "Jesus, and I thought Chrona was the emo freak self mutilator."

"Ragnarok," Chrona's voice was uncharacteristically stern. "Be quiet."

"Whatever, she's the one who torn herself up." She heard the familiar noise that always accompanied Ragnarok's retracting back inside Chrona.

She began shaking again, but no longer from nervousness. She slowly turned her head to rest her forehead against Kim's shoulder. Her tears got Kim's shirt wet.

Maka was skilled in the art of being very silent when she cried. She had perfected that art during her parent's divorce, crying herself to sleep listening to the two of them scream at each other. She could cry without making noise, but that didn't stop them all from knowing. Her shoulders jerked with each silent sob. Kim rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, placing her other hand on the back of her head, massaging her scalp.

"Maka, I'm sorry..." Chrona's voice was quiet and nervous, somewhere between ashamed and flustered. "Don't listen to him, he's just..." He stopped. He probably realized that he wasn't helping.

"I'm going to smack him next time he comes out, but we do have something to do here." Nygus said, approaching the bedside. Chrona hesitated, and then followed. "So," Nygus continued. "What do you think, Chrona?"

He was silent for a long while. Nygus asked him if he'd be able to identify a malevolent spell, because of his... past experiences. It seemed that they thought that the reason for Maka's problems was her tattoo, and that was more than alarming. If she had a bad spell on her, then it was going to take more than just a visit to the hospital wing to fix her up. Removing a bad spell, or any spell actually, was tricky. Near impossible without a skilled witch and an insane amount of luck. Of course, there was that chance that it wasn't the spell, and it was something else, which remained to be determined. He'd be able to tell. He'd seen plenty of bad spells in his life.

All that aside, he couldn't help but remind himself that Maka sat before him practically half naked, a thought that made him nervous. Was nervous the right word? Yes, nervous. But also excited, though he'd never admit to that. Her bare back faced him, hair draped over her shoulders. It was decorated with scars and writing, but he didn't care about that. She was clad in only her bra, the straps thin and frilly and black running across her back. The blanket of the hospital bed wrapped around her hips, hiding her lower half, so for all he knew, she could've very well not have been wearing pants.

Stop it, Chrona. Stop it right now.

He drew in a shaky breath and approached her. He couldn't stop his eyes from looking everywhere they weren't supposed to be looking. He looked at the dimples in her lower back, he looked at the way her waist curved out to her hips, he looked at the back of her neck and her shoulders, he looked at her bra, and thought of what was on the other side and couldn't stop himself from imagining-

Yes, he could stop himself, and he would, Goddammit, because this was serious. She could be in serious danger and this was not at all the time and place to be rubbing his eyes all over her. Why was he even thinking such things at all? This never happened. He was here for a reason. Focus, dammit.

He forced himself to look at her tattoo. He raised his hand to touch it, but stopped. "M-Maka, is it okay if I...?"

She had calmed her weeping and no longer shook with sobs. She sighed, turning her head to lay her cheek against Kim's shoulder. "It's fine." Her voice was low and scratchy.

Slowly, very slowly, he laid his hand against her bare back.

He could feel it. The magic. It felt almost like it was alive. It had a pulse. He'd never seen a spell in the form of a tattoo (Medusa's arm tattoos weren't spells, so much as magic "pets"), but it was strange. Very strange. Was it evil though? He dragged his fingers over the words, too focused to notice the goosebumps rise up on Maka's arms and shoulders. There, there it was. Let's see.

He retracted his hand with such speed, it startled Kim. His eyes widened, breath hitching. No. No no no.

Nygus cleared her throat in an attempt to get his attention. He didn't look at her. She tried again. "Well, what do you think?"

Still, he didn't look at her. He was frozen. This couldn't be, there had to be a mistake. It was faint, very faint. So faint in fact that he was sure that he was wrong. There was just no way. It was impossible. Clearly, he was still delusional from earlier. This was still just his mind playing tricks, just like it was last night. But... he knew that wavelength more than anyone. He was so sure if it. But it was impossible.

Medusa was dead, there's no way she could've influenced this spell.

...

**Sorry for the wait, this chapter was tricky to write.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I apologize for the wait. Hectic month it's been.**

...

It can't be.

It just can't be.

Impossible.

Clearly, he was just paranoid. But he was so sure...

No, no, that was it, he was just paranoid.

"Chrona." His eyes snapped up to meet Kim's. "What is it?" Her voice was firm, impatient sounding. That wasn't her first attempt at getting an answer out of him.

"O-oh... uh..." What was he supposed to say? What should he do? Should he say something? If he said something, it would just send everyone into a panic. What if he was wrong?

What if he was right?

He breathing hitched, his heart clenched. He felt ill. He felt faint.

"God in Heaven, boy, say something!" Nygus smacked him in the back of the head. Not hard so as to hurt him, only enough to get his attention.

"I... I... I..." His mind was blank. He couldn't form a coherent thought. If he could, he would just think about what if his mother was alive, and he didn't want to think that at all. To think it was to acknowledge it, and to acknowledge it was to make it real. He couldn't. He refused.

Maka turned her head slowly to peer over her shoulder at him. Her gaze met his and he stopped panicking. Her eyes held a sort of helplessness, for lack of a better term. She seemed so fragile in that moment. He could only imagine how hard just being there was for her. She hated her scars, that was obvious, she didn't want anyone to see them, yet here she was, topless and in pain, on display for them all to see, at the mercy of a spell she couldn't control. She just seemed so... vulnerable.

He drew in a deep breath, and released it. He had to get his head on straight. For Maka. He would do this for her.

He put on a brave face and looked at Nygus. "This spell is jinxed."

Nygus didn't seem to understand, but Kim's eyes widened and she held Maka tighter against her chest.

"Jinxed?" Nygus asked. "What do you mean, jinxed? Jinxed how?"

Chrona looked back at Maka's tattoo, eyeing it thoughtfully. He would tell them what he knew, but he would leave Medusa's name out of it. At least until he was absolutely sure. "I-I-I can't be completely sure, but the feeling I get from it is that... whoever actually put this spell here did it with the best of intentions, it's a supposed to be a good spell, I can tell that much. But... somehow... the magic itself got manipulated to the point where... it doesn't work right."

He knew what he was trying to say, but it was hard putting it into words. Kim seemed to understand, but he had no way of knowing if he was making it clear for Nygus and Maka. Although, Maka seemed to be completely uninterested. She had stopped looking at him and gone back to staring at the wall, her eyes half lidded and glazed over with... what was that? Was that sadness?

"Okaaaaay, so you're saying that it's been affected by some kind of outside force, or...?" Nygus said, forcing him to look away from Maka to see her expression. She didn't look confused so much as inquisitive.

"Something like that." Chrona replaced his hand on Maka's tattoo, but this time he didn't miss her shoulders tense ever so slightly. He mistook the action as surprise and left his hand there. He could feel the magic pulsing still. "The spell itself is a good one, these words here," He traced his fingertips over the loopy writing, vaguely noticing Maka's rising goosebumps. "These words are to a good spell. But the magic itself has been distorted somehow. I don't know how."

He knew how.

He himself was not a magic user, but had lived among witches all his life. He wasn't daft, he had picked up on a few things. Magic wasn't that complicated when it came right down to it. Spells were like the recipe for magic. Each individual witch had her own chant, but basic spells, like the one tattooed on Maka's back, were pretty universal. The spell itself was just the words used to make the magic. It was like cooking. Just because you use all the proper ingredients, that doesn't mean your food will come out like it is supposed to. There are a handful of things that can go wrong.

And in this case, someone other than the good witch who had bestowed the spell on Maka had taken the liberty of adding something extra. Something that wasn't supposed to be there.

He continued to trace the letters on her back. Nygus began discussing with Kim ways in which they could help Maka, but he didn't really hear them. He was beginning to notice more and more the way Maka was reacting to his touch. He wondered if he was hurting her, but the more he watched, the more he didn't think that was it. She seemed to almost shiver as his fingers brushed her flesh. The skin he touched almost seemed to jump under his fingertips. Her breathing was very slow and deliberate, as if she was consciously willing it to be even. A blush rose on his face as he was once again faced with a reminder that she sat before him half naked. And he was touching her.

He didn't know what possessed him to do it, but his fingers slowly trailed away from her tattoo, lower down her back. His fingers moved on their own, traveling lower still, and he could've sworn he heard her gasp ever so quietly when he brushed against her bra strap. Slowly, very slowly, his fingers grazed one of her scars.

She jerked violently, desperately clinging to Kim as she sharply drew in a breath through clenched teeth. "_Gesu Cristo_." She hissed.

Her actions startled all of them. Nygus and Kim both jumped and Chrona snapped his hand back away from her. He could've sworn he saw her skin release a small spark when she jumped, but it was so quick he couldn't be sure.

"Oh my God, Maka, are you alright?" Kim asked. She stroked her hair comfortingly. "Is it really that sensitive, still?"

"It's not sensitive, that fucking hurt." Maka replied. Her voice was quiet and strained and her shoulders remained tense.

"That's... that's very strange." Nygus said. Chrona stepped out of her way and she fully stood behind Maka, observing the scars closely. "I could understand them being very sensitive, but scars shouldn't actually still hurt." She very gentle placed her hand on Maka's back, atop one of her scars.

Maka's reaction was the same, except this time she nearly shoved Kim to the ground because of how forcefully she jerked. "Please don't..." Her breathing had gone ragged.

Nygus removed her hand, her expression absolutely bewildered. "My goodness, does it really hurt that bad?"

Maka didn't speak for a moment. She was digging her fingers into Kim's shoulders, breathing uneven and labored, shoulders hunched. The blanket had fallen to her lap so it no longer covered her front, but she didn't seem to care. Her front was mostly pressed against Kim anyway. Eventually, she got her breathing controlled enough to respond. "It almost feels like they're still open."

"Here, let me see." Kim said, gently detangling herself from Maka's grip. She then whispered something into her ear, which Chrona couldn't hear. Maka responded by weakly nodding her head. "Chrona, come here and let Maka lean on you."

His eyes widened. Um, excuse me? Did he hear that correctly? Did they forget that she was topless? "W-w-what?"

Kim snapped her fingers at him impatiently. "C'mon, Chrona, the girl is in pain!"

It was true, and he knew it. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face. He pushed his nervous butterflies to the back of his mind and circled around the bed. Kim stepped aside and he forced himself to take her place. Maka's torso immediately collapsed against his, her forehead nestled into the crook of his neck. Her hands came up to grip the front of his sweater, and it took him a moment to realize it, but she had actually bitten down on his collar. Her breathing remained labored. He wasn't sure what to do with his hands, so he awkwardly rested them on her shoulders.

Kim was behind her in an instant, hands glowing and hovering above her scars. She tensed, but didn't jerk as she had before. As Kim moved her hands over her back, she began shaking ever so slightly. Chrona heard the smallest of whimpers escape her, and immediately felt guilty for his own nervousness. She was in pain and scared, and here he was concerned about how scantily clad she was. It was not the time nor place for such thoughts. Maka needed him to be calm, and Goddammit, for her, he would be.

"Oh... oh my..." Kim suddenly said, an air of alarm in her voice. "I... I think I understand what's wrong now."

Chrona tensed. She couldn't possibly sense it too, could she...?

"What, what is it?" Nygus urged.

"I think..." Kim looked at her. "I think that... Well, first off, these scars aren't healed properly, that much I'm sure of. The skin on top is pieced together, but these cuts were deep." She looked back at Maka's scars. "I don't think that the flesh beneath the surface is healed at all."

That... that didn't sound good at all. Chrona looked down at Maka. She was no more calm then she had been before. If anything, he sensed that she was more scared. He wished he could do more to comfort her, embrace her, but he dared not risk touching her back.

He'd kick himself for it later, but he felt relived that Kim didn't seem to notice a certain wavelength, like he had.

"What do you mean by that?" Nygus asked, her voice alittle panicked. "Are you saying that, the wounds are still opened beneath the skin?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I think that's what the internal damage is we were talking about earlier."

"What?" Maka finally spoke. Her head remained against Chrona's shoulder, his collar still in her teeth. Her voice was forced and scratchy. "How... is that possible? And why... why do they hurt... now? They didn't hurt... before today." The simple act of speaking seemed to take alot of effort, because she slumped more against Chrona's chest, breathing in deeply, forcing as much air into her lungs as she could get.

"If I had to take a guest," Kim said, rubbing Maka's arm in an effort to comfort her. "I'd say that your little episode today had something to do with that." She sighed, getting the same look on her face that she had when she didn't know how to explain something. "I think I get it now. The spell was meant to seal away your weapon blood, but what it actually did was freeze your body in it's current state. Your wounds weren't healed all the way when you got this, right?"

Maka hesitantly nodded.

"See... That's it."

Maka felt faint. She didn't want to be there anymore. She wanted to go home. This was not at all how she imagined coming home would be. She hadn't wanted this. She wanted her friends to see her as better, not worse. She wanted to be praised, not pitied. She worked so hard on getting stronger with the intent of getting her friends' approval, but that was all gone to hell now. And on top of all that, she couldn't even begin to explain how she felt in that moment. She was on display with people telling her what was wrong with her. Chrona was the one people she always thought would look up to her as strong, and even he looked at her with pity in his eyes. She wanted to cry.

"So, then..." Nygus's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "She needs surgery."

Great. This was getting better and better.

"No, no, I can fix it." Kim said, but she didn't sound very enthusiastic. "But..." She leaned over to whisper into Maka's ear. "How you doing, Maka? Are you okay so far?"

If by 'okay', she meant 'alive and breathing', then yes, she was okay. She nodded weakly.

"Okay, good." Kim leaned back again. "I can heal you, but... it will... probably be painful."

"I'm already in pain." Maka said, her voice still labored. "Just do it."

There was a desperation in her voice. Kim seemed to pay in no mind or perhaps she didn't notice, but Chrona heard it. Like she would give anything for the pain to stop. Tense wasn't even an accurate word to describe her posture anymore. She was absolutely rigid. She still had his collar in her teeth and he wondered if it had torn yet, she was biting it so hard. She wanted nothing more than for this to be over with, that much was painfully clear. Her trembling hands snaked there way from Chrona's front to his back, coming up to hook onto his shoulders.

"Alright." Kim said, rubbing her hands together, small sparks gathering between them. "I'll try to be as fast as I can, but if I rush too much, it won't work properly." She paused for a moment, observing Maka's back. "Maka, I'll probably need to..." She tapped something on Maka's back that Chrona couldn't see.

"I don't even care." Maka wheezed. "Do what you have to."

Chrona didn't know what they were speaking of. But all of the sudden, her bra became loose. Kim nudged the article off of her shoulders, and it fell to her elbows. It was held in place on her chest only by the fact that her chest was pressed tightly up against his own.

Oh God.

Ohhhhh God.

Kim began to rub her hands together again as Nygus went elsewhere in the room to retrieve some matter of ointment, but that was all mere background noise to him now. Maka's bra was off. Maka's bra was off and she was pressed up against him. Not just pressed up against him, but clinging to him. He felt a bead of sweat run down his face. He could feel her hot breath on his neck. She was panting and sweating and half naked and up against him and...

Oh God.

No. Stop it. Stop it right now. How many times are we going to have to go over this? This wasn't some peep show, this was serious, Goddammit! They were in the hospital wing, for God's sake, she was suffering! Get your mind out of the Goddamn gutter and be serious.

He forced his attention back onto Kim, who was still warming up. He felt guilty for thinking such things at such an inappropriate time, but he just couldn't stop himself. He didn't know why, and he didn't like it, but his mind just wandered. It was hard to control it under such circumstances. But the fact remained that he was here for Maka, and she was clearly in pain. He didn't like her to be in pain. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her, to make her feel better. She had been through so much and was always there for him when he needed her. The last thing he needed to be doing in that moment was getting flustered over something like... bare skin.

He shuttered, but quickly recomposed himself.

Kim seemed to be ready to perform whatever magic she had been preparing. In an effort to be helpful, he very carefully ran his hands over Maka's hair, making sure it was all over her shoulders and not on her back. As he did this, she shimmied closer to him and hooked her heels around the back of his knees. He kept one hand on the back of her head and rested the other one on her shoulder. Her _bare_ shoulder.

Oh no you don't, stop it.

"Alright, Maka, you ready?" Kim asked. Maka just nodded, probably too drained to speak anymore. Kim met gazes with Chrona and she silently mouthed something to him.

_Brace yourself._

Brace himself? Why?

Kim raised her hands to Maka's back, sparks of magic coming off of them. She slowly laid them down against her skin and Maka went rigid. She jerked harshly against him, as if she had actually been shocked. Her fingers clawed at his back and he could feel her nails even through his shirt. She retracted in on herself, in a way, pulling him into a bone crushing grip. He didn't need to tell Ragnarok to harden his blood, he had already done it. He had expected her to make some manner of noise, but she was silent. So silent in fact that he wasn't sure if she was breathing.

Oh, there it goes. His collar ripped in her teeth.

When she finally did make a noise, it was a strangled growl. He could tell she was holding it all in. As soon as that one noise escaped her, she was instantly silent again, no longer biting down on his shirt.

She continued to tremble and grip him tightly. Small sparks jumped off of her back as Kim continued to run her hands over her scars. Suddenly, much larger bursts of magic sparked forth from her tattoo, shocking Kim's hands and making them sizzle and steam. She retracted them with a yelp and Maka's body relaxed significantly.

"Holy shit!" Kim hissed, waving her hands around in an attempt to shake the pain off. "That thing does not want me messing with it!"

"What was that, what happened?" Nygus asked, taking Kim's hands and looking at them.

Kim shook her head. "I should've anticipated that. What I'm doing is sort of counter acting her spell just enough so that her back can heal. I should've guessed that it wouldn't like that." Kim shook her hands some more, the steam leaving them. "Ugh, nasty little thing..." She the last bit under her breath.

"You can counteract it?" Nygus said with a hint of hope in her voice.

"No." Kim said. "I'm just pushing past it a little. Just enough to heal her."

Chrona looked down at Maka. Her face was still more or less buried in his neck. Her grip had loosened a great deal, but it was still there. Her skin was covered with a layer of sweat and her breathing was deep and deliberate. He stroked the back of her head. "You okay, Maka?"

She was still for a moment. Finally, she slowly looked up only enough so he could see her face. The hand on the back of her head fell to rest on her other shoulder. Her expression was nothing short of exhausted. Her lower lip was trapped between her teeth again, blood trickling down her chin. She looked at his shirt and he followed her gaze. Not only was his collar ripped, but there was blood there now too.

"I'm sorry." She said breathlessly. "I'll... buy you a new one."

Kim looked over at them and saw the blood, her expression changing to that of concern. "Maka, again with the lip?" There was a hint of irritation in her voice, but it wasn't much. Before Chrona could say anything, Kim took her by the shoulders and pulled her back to lay against her chest, most likely with the intention of fixing her lip, apparently having forgotten that she unhooked her bra only moments before.

Maka's hands shot up to cover her breasts just as the garment fell to her lap.

His mind went completely blank for a good three seconds. Maka's head was turned towards Kim, who was healing her lip, so she didn't notice him openly staring at her chest. Kim didn't seem to notice, and Maka didn't seem to care. He knew he should look away, but he couldn't help himself. His eyes wandered shamelessly.

This was wrong. This was a nurse's office, a hospital wing. This was a place that was meant for people to get better when they were hurt. Not at all a place for your pants to suddenly get tighter. He had only ever imagined the sight that lay before him. He imagined it late at night when he was alone and Ragnarok was asleep. He imagined it in his room with no one there. He imagined it boldly, uncensored, unafraid of the opinion of others because he was safe in his room, where no one could judge him. But this wasn't in his room with no one else around and he wasn't imagining it. This was real. Maka was bare before him. Her hands shielded her most intimate places, but honestly even if her bra had still been on, it would've had the same affect. The fact that it lay discarded in her lap just made it all the more intimidating. It was too much. He felt faint.

He felt a tingle in his back, but he didn't register it until it was too late. Ragnarok didn't settle atop his head like he usually did, but stayed almost hidden behind his head, peering around to look at her. "Goddamn," he mumbled. "That is a nice view."

Why was he being so quiet? And he was hiding still. That wasn't like him at all. Could it be because he was as shy as Chrona was? No, that's impossible. Why then...?

Oh, that's why.

Nygus was staring at them. Ragnarok was protecting himself in case she decided to make good on her earlier threat to smack him the next time he emerged. She wasn't looking at him, though, her gaze was on Chrona. He felt very small under her watchful eye. As always, her face was hidden by her bandages, so seeing her exact expression was impossible, but her eyes had a knowing look to them. She had been busy wiping blood from Maka's chin, but now her eyes were locked on them, and as she reached out to pull the blanket in Maka's lap up to her shoulders, Chrona felt caught. He realized there was blood on his lip from his nose. He wiped it away viciously, still being watched by Nygus. He wished she would look away from him. It was painfully clear that she was well aware of what was going on in his head.

Kim finished fixing Maka's lip and gently pushed her forward to lay against Chrona's chest again, completely oblivious to the silent exchange he'd just had with Nygus. Maka's front now covered by the blanket, there was a barrier between them that he was grateful for. It provided a shield against his wandering eyes, and also protected him from having her feel his... painfully obvious excitement... by accident.

"Now, Maka," Nygus said firmly, running her hand through Maka's hair. "It's okay to cry out if you need to. Holding it in will just make it worse. Don't bite your lip again, just let it out. It really does help relieve some of the pain."

Maka heard her, but she didn't respond. She just wanted this to be over. "Just do it." She breathed out. The sooner they got it over with, the sooner the pain would stop and the sooner she could leave. Not that she was in any shape to go anywhere, but she didn't want to stay there. She didn't want to be in pain anymore and she certainly did not want anyone else to see her in such a state.

Kim was already rubbing her hands together again, building the magic back up for a second attempt. Maka's breathing was slow, deep. Kim locked eyes with Chrona once again, signaling to him that she was about to begin soon. He placed one hand on the back of her head and the other on her shoulder. This seemed to tell her Kim was about to start again, because her breathing changed into something a bit more... scared, for lack of a better term.

Her face was hidden in Chrona's neck again, her forehead against his chin. He bend his head down just a bit to press his lips there, hoping to calm her with a small kiss. She responded by pressing her own lips against his neck. He realized she was only returning the favor, and also that his neck was the only thing she could get to at that moment, but that knowledge didn't stop his breath from hitching.

His neck had always been sensitive. He knew this because he knew how much worse it always hurt whenever Ragnarok pitched him there. He'd never really entertained the possibility of that sensitivity being used for anything other than pain. But what he felt when Maka kissed him there was not pain, not in the least. It felt good. It gave him shivers. He almost wanted to moan. He didn't, of course, but he wanted to. And it didn't help that she still had her lips pressed right up against his throat and he could feel her hot breath.

He hadn't even remembered Ragnarok's presence until the little weapon said in his ear, "Bloody pervert." and retracted back into his skin.

He tensed up, as was his reaction to most things, and prayed that Maka hadn't heard Ragnarok. She didn't move or take her lips from his neck, so he could only assume she had not. He looked up at Kim and Nygus. Kim was stopped rubbing her hands together, about to place them on Maka's back again. But Nygus... had that knowing look again.

He didn't have time to dwell on this, as Kim finally placed her hands on Maka's tattoo.

Maka jerked forward again, her whole body tensing. Her arms still around her own chest, she gripped both her upper arms tightly, nails digging into her own skin. Chrona couldn't see this, but Nygus did. As quickly as she could, she carefully reached around Kim's hands and forced Maka to release her grip on her arms, guiding them around Chrona's waist instead. Once there, she clawed at his back, clenching and unclenching her fists around the fabric of his sweater. The sheet had fallen from her shoulders to her chest. It fell no lower because she was still pressed tightly against him. Her forehead still rest against his chin, but she soon moved to rest her cheek against his shoulder, facing his neck.

Before, the feeling of her hot, heavy, uneven breathing on his neck would've made his pants tighter, but the realization of how much pain she must be in was starting to sink in, and he felt guilty for even thinking such things at such a moment. She was clearly suffering, and he wanted nothing more than for her to feel better. He could tell by the manor in which she was tensed up that she was still holding in whatever noise she would have otherwise made.

"Maka, let it out, it's okay." He whispered.

...

The pain was unbearable. She hadn't expected it to be this bad. It almost didn't make sense. Why was it that healing something was painful? Well... her scars were basically stitching themselves up from the inside, right? She assumed that's what it was. That was certainly what it felt like.

She wanted to scream. Really, she did. But she just kept thinking about how everyone would hear her. She knew they were all right outside the door, she could feel them. She knew they already thought she was weak, she didn't want to add to that by showing her pain. The pain hit her so suddenly though, even though Kim told her when it was coming, that she didn't have time to think about whether screaming was okay or not. Forced to make a decision under pressure, she told herself that screaming was bad. She would look back on this and be proud of herself that she didn't scream.

It was hard though. It was very hard. It was almost as if the noise rising in her throat was a force all on it's own that had to be bottled down. A natural reaction to the feeling of pain. Just breath. Breath through it. Crying out in pain is beneath you. You can get through this. Just breath.

"Maka, let it out, it's okay."

Goddammit, Chrona, stop it. It's not okay. They already see me as weak, they don't need any reminders.

That wasn't fair. She didn't say that out loud, of course, she was in far too much pain to speak without crying out, but if she had, she would've apologized. Of course Chrona would think it was okay. He was the one person who never looked down on her about anything. He didn't see her as weak. Even now, in her weakest moment, he was here reassuring her that it was okay. He was a sweetheart, but he didn't understand. Not really. He didn't see her the way they saw her. He probably didn't realize they thought she was weak. If it were just Chrona, she would've let go. She was safe with him. But if she let go now, they would just say it was because she was weak. She can't give them any more reason to think she's weak. She just can't.

It was okay. The pain wasn't as bad anymore. It was starting to feel better. Well, not better, but less painful. Maybe that meant it was working.

"Almost done, Maka." Kim said. "Just a little bit longer."

Oh good. It would be over soon. She was able to think about other things now, the pain had dulled enough to allow her to focus on something else. What would she do when they were done? Would she go back to class? She'd like to do that. What time was it? Was class even still in session? It probably was. Would Nygus have her stay here for a bit? She hoped not. Would she send her home? She would not object to going home. She was so tired.

What she originally though was the pain dulling, she realized now was actually her consciousness slipping. She was starting to become numb. That's why it didn't hurt as bad. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake. She wanted to lose consciousness. That would make this awful feeling a lot easier to deal with. But there was that little voice in the back of her mind, reminding her not to do anything that could be perceived as weak.

Maybe she was being a little ridiculous. If this were happening to someone else, she wouldn't think of it was weak of them to cry out or lose consciousness when there back was stitching itself back together from the inside. She'd say that was probably a reasonable reaction. But, then again, that's what made her so mad in the first place, was that it was her. And for some reason, everything she did was a sign of weakness, for no other reason other than the fact that it was her.

Her trembling, which had gotten less violent as her body numbed, started up again for a new reason.

The atmosphere in the room had changed. Chrona could feel it. He could tell Kim felt it too, but she couldn't stop what she was doing when she was so close to being done. The feeling in the air around them had gone from stressful to dangerous. It felt the same as earlier that day when Maka had looked up at Dr. Stein right after her episode and her expression was... the only word he could think of to describe it was... bloodthirsty. The air in the classroom had taken on a completely different feel, and he felt that same hostile energy now.

What was happening? A dreaded sinking feeling come to him as he thought of the God awful possibility that... he had actually been right about Medusa affecting Maka's spell. What if she was swaying Maka with negative energy? The same negative energy he was feeling right now? It certainly seemed like something Medusa would do. The only probably with that was, it wasn't Medusa's dark aura he was sensing right now.

It was Maka's.

"Done." Kim said proudly. She stepped aside to allow Nygus to rub some medical ointment on Maka's back. The feeling of the cold ointment on her skin caused her to twitch slightly, and just like that, the hostile feeling in the air vanished.

The ointment was cold on her back, but Nygus was gentle and it actually felt kind of good. Her skin was hot from Kim's magic and the cold feeling was soothing. When Nygus finished, she reached around Maka to pull her bra back up onto her chest and then clasped it. Maka was glad she did that. Now she wouldn't have to mess with it. God, she was really tired. Drowsiness was consuming her rapidly now.

"Alright, Maka, your back should not be hurting like that anymore. If it does, come see me immediately, okay?" Maka nodded numbly at Nygus's words. "You're in no shape to go back to class, so you can stay here if you'd like, or I can have someone take you home."

"It's okay, I can go myself." She said at once, and tried to get up. Just the sound of her voice made it obvious how drained she was. Chrona's presence had completely slipped her mind for whatever reason. Her attempt to get up only pushed her body further up against his. She pulled back and looked at him, in the eyes. His face was beat red, eyes wide. There faces were so close. She could feel his breath on her lips. His hands were still on her shoulder and head, and her's still around his waist. She could feel his heartbeat against her chest. It was much faster than her own. She could feel the heat coming from his body, and for whatever reason, it gave her goosebumps. She was still tired, and was unable to clearly think of much else, but for some reason, staring into those violet eyes, she was woken up enough to blush, and start to feel hot, for a different reason than before.

She was the first to break eye contact. She retracted one hand and coughed into it. "Thank you for... being here for me, Chrona." Her voice was quiet.

"Your welcome." He didn't move. He couldn't. Anxiety completely forgotten, all he could do was stare at her. She was so close. Too close. He felt faint again.

His eyes looked over her shoulder at something behind her, and that's when he finally pulled away, very quickly, red in the face. She could only assume Nygus was giving him a look. He quickly stripped off his sweater, revealing the button up collared shirt below it, and handed it to her. "Uh... y-you can use this, Maka."

She hadn't actually thought about the fact that she was topless, and even now she didn't really care that much. She was more interested in Chrona. She eyed his button up. The sweater he held out to her was black, and the shirt he wore was white. It fit him well. It looked good on him. Well, except for the collar part. The part that she had ripped in her teeth, and also had her blood on it. She felt a twinge of guilt, but she would replace it for him.

She took the sweater from his hands slowly. Her movements felt sluggish again, her body growing heavier. She pulled it onto her body with help from Kim. Her vision was beginning to go fuzzy. She couldn't tell if anyone was speaking or not. Oh wait. They were speaking, but not to her. She hadn't even realized her eyes had slipped shut. Letting her eyes rest allowed her ears to pick up the last bit of what Kim and Nygus were talking about.

"Wouldn't it be easier for her to just stay here?" That was Kim speaking.

"Well, on one hand, yes. But something tells me that she would sleep for a long while, and she'd probably wake up very late when no one was here. She'd be hungry and confused and she would want to go home. It would be safer to just send her home now. People always feel more comfortable in there own home, and she needs to rest."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense then." Maka heard footstep. "Well, her dad's still outside, I'm sure he could take her-" She heard the doorknob turn.

"No!" Maka shouted, her eyes flying open. "I don't want to see him!" She jumped down from the hospital bed, stumbling when her feet hit the floor. Chrona tried to help her but she pushed him away. Not because she wanted to, but because her mind was moving slower than normal and she thought he was her father come to get her. Once she was on her feet, it was made apparent very quickly just how numb she had become. Her body was heavy, her senses dulled. Everything around her was moving too fast. It was actually hard to breath. She was scared.

"SOUL!" She screamed. He was close. She could feel him. She needed him right now. She couldn't see anything, everything was blurry, but she could hear the door open. She hadn't realized she had fallen until she hazily saw him drop to the ground next to her. She was on her knees, clutching her chest, gasping for air, bent over so low her hair touched the floor. Soul scooped her up and held her tightly to his chest.

"Maka, breath." His words were calm, but she could sense how panicked he was. The only reason she could hear him at all was because she spoke right into her ear. She could hear other voice in the background, but she couldn't make them out.

"Maka, feel my chest move. Breath with me." She was still gasping, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. She forced herself to inhale deeply, but she released it too soon and gasped again. "That's it, that's it." Soul encouraged.

She felt the steady rise and fall of his chest and strained to copy it. Her breathing wasn't as slow and even as his, but she no longer gasped. "Good, there we go." Soul said, and ran his hand through her hair.

This was exactly why she loved Soul. He took care of her. She knew she could depend on him. She needed him. She knew he wouldn't let Spirit take her. She was safe now. She could no longer hear him, but the vibration she felt from his chest told her that he was speaking. Probably asking what happened. She senses were dulling again, her consciousness going quiet. She felt Soul lift her up, her arms circled around his neck instinctually. Her eyes shut.

"Oh my God, what happened to my little girl?!"

That voice. That God awful voice. No, she didn't want him. She didn't want to see him, talk to him, be near him. She clawed at Soul back, silently sending the message that she didn't want Spirit near her. She didn't have to open her eyes to know that he was getting closer to them. He was about to touch her. She didn't even have to think about it. She lashed out.

The back of her hand collided with his face. Hard. A reverberating smacking sound could be heard. She heard gasps, and she felt Soul struggle with her sudden movement. "_Stay away from me_." He didn't respond, but she knew he heard her. They all heard her.

Who were 'they', she didn't know. She didn't know who all had stayed and were now present. But she didn't care. She could feel Soul moving now. They were moving away from Spirit. Good. She finally allowed sleep to take her.

...

**I want to apologize again for the wait. My life has been pretty crazy lately. First year of college is complete, I moved into a new apartment, new job, my mom has been in town, just crazy life. But my mom has gone home and I no longer have school to worry about for the next four months. School was my biggest thing that caused me to shy away from writing, because that was the most important thing at the time. But it's over now, so this story has made it's way back to the top of my priority list. Expect updates more often now. c:**

**I do feel like the end of this chapter was alittle rushed, simply because I wanted to finish it up for you guys quickly, but it is what it is, and I don't hate it, so that will have to do.**

**Again, if anything is unclear or you don't understand something, please don't hesitate to ask.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I just realized I skipped Sunday in this story. Chapter 3, it was Saturday. Chapter 6, they went back to school.**

**Well, don't I feel silly now.**

...

Chrona knew that Maka was not exactly fond of her father, and probably wasn't terribly eager to see him, but he never would've expected that the mere thought of him would send her into a full fledged panic attack.

Kim had just barely cracked the door open when Maka started to loose it. "No!" She shouted. "I don't want to see him!" She very hastily jumped down from the hospital bed, stumbling when her feet hit the floor. Chrona rushed to catch her, but she shoved him away harshly, causing him to crash rather painfully into the metal bars to the hospital bed behind him. It knocked the wind out of him, forcing him to take a moment to catch his breath.

Once Maka had managed to actually get on her feet, there was a brief moment where she stood very still. She began falling forward slowly, and he realized she wasn't breathing. She fell to her knees, trembling, and finally gasped, greedily sucking in much needed air, which she just as quickly expelled in the form of a scream. "SOUL!"

The door had been cracked, but not open enough for anyone to see in. Kim had let go of the door when Maka first started shouting, and now stood paralyzed in fear. Nygus had tried to rush to Maka's aid, but Soul got to her first. As soon as Maka called for him, he kicked the door the rest of the way open, ran in, and dropped to the ground next to her. He scooped her up and held her against his chest.

"Maka, breath." It was obvious, based on the look on his face, how panicked he was, but his voice was calm. He spoke directly into her ear, his hands running slowly through her hair. She jerked and twitched in his arms, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, and still gasping.

The others were not far behind Soul. "What happened?!" Kidd was the first one in, followed closely by Black Star and their weapons. Jackie trailed in after that, going straight to Kim's side, towards the back of the group.

"She's having a panic attack." Nygus said, almost calmly. "Where is Spirit?"

"He figured since you weren't going to let him in anyway," Black Star answered, "that he'd go ask Stein what was happening."

"So he's not here?"

"No."

Chrona looked back to Soul and Maka. "Maka, feel my chest move. Breath with me." She was still gasping, but slowly her breathing was getting better. "That's it, that's it." Soul encouraged.

It took a few more moments before her breathing completely slowed to the point where she could actually take in oxygen steadily, but she did get there. "Good, there we go." Soul said, and ran his hand through her hair.

Chrona had always admired the relationship between Maka and Soul, but in that moment, he felt a twinge of something else. Something that wasn't admiration. It was jealousy.

He knew it was stupid, he shouldn't feel like that, but he couldn't help it. Soul was her partner, they lived together, of course Maka would want him to escort her home. But she had pushed him away and called out for Soul instead. It struck him off alittle. He could've helped her just as easily. And he would not have had to kick open the door.

"What happened?" Soul demanded, once he was confident that Maka was breathing correctly. He had been too preoccupied to hear what the answer had been the first time that question was asked.

"She had a panic attack." Nygus said again. "A very common side effect of PTSD. She'll be fine now. That was very good, Soul, that's exactly what you should do if she ever has one again."

"Oh. Um... thanks I guess." Soul responded. He carefully lifted Maka up bridal style, her arms encircling his neck. It was clear that her consciousness was slipping. "I'm taking her home, I don't give a damn about class."

"I think that's actually for the best." Nygus said. Her response seemed to throw Soul off for a moment, he had been expecting some sort of protest about leaving school, but this lasted for only briefly before he turned his attention back to his near fainted meister. He carefully made his way around the hospital bed towards the door.

"Why did she have a panic attack?" Tsubaki asked Nygus as they all moved aside to allow Soul to pass through them. "Did something happen?"

Nygus was about to respond when the door, which had slowly swung shut on it's own, was once again thrown open. Spirit stood there, rowdy and winded, having obviously ran there for whatever reason. He tried to speak for a moment, but was forced to stop and catch his breath. Once he did, he tried again. "I saw you kids weren't in the hall anymore, what did I...?"

His eyes landed on Maka who, even near unconscious, still had pain and exhaustion plainly visible on her face. Though she was breathing steadily, it still came out with a slight wheeze. There was still a trace of blood on her chin from when she had bitten her lip. What exactly she had gone through was unclear, but one could only assume that it wasn't pleasant.

"Oh my God, what happened to my little girl?!"

As soon as he spoke, as soon as Maka became aware of his presence, the atmosphere in the room changed. One didn't need Soul Perception to feel it, it was obvious to all of them. It was almost suffocating how thick with anxiety the air had become. Maka became animated again, clawing at Soul's back and squirming, trying desperately to get as far away from her father as she could. Soul was taken aback by this sudden fit and it was all he could do to keep from dropping her. Spirit, of course, wasted no time in rushing towards her, hand outstretched to touch her, seemingly oblivious to her obvious distress over his presence. The feeling in the room suddenly went from anxious to hostile.

Maka lashed out. It was so quick that it was over before half of them realized what had happened. The back of her hand collided with his face. Hard. A reverberating smack echoed through the room. Half of them gasped, their hands coming up to cover there mouths. The other half were frozen, wide eyed, in shock. Spirit was sent stumbling backward towards Nygus, who caught him before he could fall. As quickly as she lashed out, Maka retracted back in, curling as far into Soul's arms as she could get, to be as far away from her father as possible. It was dead silent in the room, save for one cold hiss of a demand. "Stay away from me."

Her words hung in the otherwise silent air. Soul stood wide eyed, clutching Maka to his chest. He stared at Spirit in shock. He had three small but bleeding scratches on his face, where Maka's nails seemed to have gotten him, along side a decent sized red welt. Spirit's hair had fallen over his eyes, so his expression was unknown. Soul was torn over what to do next. Should he leave like he was originally going to? And just pay no mind to what had just happened? Should he stay and see if he was alright? He didn't much care to, but he felt like that was the right thing to do. Maybe it was the right thing to do for Spirit, but was it for Maka? She needed to get home, she needed to be away from him.

"Get her out of here."

It was Nygus that spoke. Her voice was, not upset or panicked, but firm. Urgent sounding. That was all Soul needed to hear. He booked it out of there.

As soon as Maka was out of sight, disappeared along with Soul out of the room, the air in the room was breathable again.

Tsubaki and Liz met eyes with each other, still wide eyed, as if to confirm what they had just seen. Jackie and Kim had gripped each others' hands, still trying to process what they'd just witnessed. Kidd looked between Chrona and Black Star, a silent question in the air.

Did that really just happen?

It was Patti that broke the near deafening silence. "Are... are you okay, Spirit?"

Spirit had not moved. He stayed limp, his back against Nygus's chest where she had caught him. The cuts on his cheek were not terribly deep, but they did bleed, and a trickle of red dripped down to his chin. They all watched him, waiting for his response. Or just for him to do anything really.

When he finally did look up, his movements were slow. He slowly raised his head, slowly pulled himself to his feet, and slowly wiped the blood from his chin. His expression was blank, or it was trying to be. His eyes gave it all away. It was a look none of them would have ever thought they would see on the Death Scythe's face. When he spoke, it was slow, like his movements. "Yes, Patti, I am okay." He slowly made his way out of the room. "Thank you, Nygus."

Right before he exited, his emotions spilled through. Tears welled up in his eyes, though the rest of his face remained tight. They all saw it. That was all they saw, however, as he disappeared out of the room.

They all exchanged glances once more, no longer shocked, but sad. Sympathetic.

Nygus did not let the silence drag on any longer than it needed to. She had just about enough of this awkward silence business. "Alright, kids. It's been a crazy morning, but the day has barely started. Back to class, all of you."

"Whoa, whoa there," Liz piped up, . "That's it? You're not going to tell us what happened?"

"Yeah!" Patti chimed in.

Liz continued. "What was all that about? Did you find out what caused that... incident this morning? Is she going to be okay? I mean, the girl nearly caught fire in the classroom! What if it happens again, what if-"

"Enough." Nygus interrupted. Her voice was stern again. It silenced Liz immediately. "Calm yourself, child. I know you're all concerned for Maka, but I'm afraid that, as the nurse, whether or not I can share her situation is not up to me. If Maka wants you all to know what going with her, that's her call to make. Not mine." She ignored the whines of protest. "But I'll say this. Maka is stable. She should be fine now. She's not in any immediate danger."

"Immediate danger?" Kidd asked quizzically.

"Not my call to make, Kidd. If Maka wants to share, she will do it herself."

"But, but, wait." Tsubaki said, almost desperately. "She just bitch slapped her father, that did not look stable to me!" They all seemed taken aback by her bluntness, and... choice of expression. "Nygus, please... is she really okay? Or do you just have to tell us that?"

The question, coupled with Tsubaki's sincerity, seemed to strike all of them. But none more so than Chrona. He was growing increasingly nervous, because he knew probably more than any of them that something was terribly wrong. And now here he was staring at a group who wanted to know what ailed there friend, and didn't seem content enough to just let it be. He was getting scared.

On one hand, he felt selfish. Selfish because he feared that, what if his suspicions were correct and he stayed silent. But if he was right, they would find out the hard way, and God help him if they found out that he was knew it the whole time and didn't say anything. They'd shun him again, they'd be disgusted with him, they may even try and end him. Because if something happened to Maka that he could have helped prevent, then it would be his fault. He knew his mother, she was always planning something, and if she were alive, that's exactly what she would do. He was selfish because he feared the repercussions of what staying silent might bring upon himself.

On the other hand, he didn't care about himself at all in comparison to Maka. What was really important was that she was safe, and if he was right about his mother, then he didn't know how to help her on his own. He didn't even know what was wrong exactly, only that it wasn't good and it involved magic. If he was right, then he had to tell the higher ups. Maka needed help. He could help her by telling Shinigami-sama what he knew. Maybe they could nip this in the bud before it got any worse.

But what if he was wrong?

Nygus looked among the students in the room. Chrona stood by the bed towards the middle of the room, away from everyone else. He wore an... odd expression. The rest of them were closer together. Kidd stood somewhat in front of his weapons, the latter of which having an ever present grip on each other's hands. Black Star and Tsubaki were just by the door. Kim and Jackie were standing almost behind Nygus, somewhat out of sight. One thing was the same about all of them. They all wore a look of concern and uncertainty on their faces. She sighed. Maybe just alittle...

"Listen, everyone." She started. "I won't lie, what happened to Maka was... awful. Well, I don't need to tell you that, you all saw it. But you all know Maka, she's one tough little cookie. Personally, I think if you can survive being split open from the inside by your own powers, you can survive anything. Mentally, though, she is going through some hard times right now. PTSD is a serious disorder, but she'll get through it, just like she's always gotten through everything else. The best thing you can all do for her is be there for her, like you always have. Okay?"

Nygus never really was one for pep talks, but she spoke the truth. She was confident in what she was saying, and that confidence seemed to reassure the group. Tsubaki became less tense, Black Star added a 'Hell yeah!', Patti and Liz nodded in agreement, Kidd smiled at her words. Chrona just looked at her.

"Alright, now back to class, all of you!"

They all slowly retreated into the hallway, one by one, and returned to the classroom for whatever bit was left before lunch. Which probably was not much, they had been there for quite some time. Kim told Jackie to go on, that she would catch up. Chrona was about to leave as well, realizing that his thoughts had kept him from moving and he was once again one of the last ones present.

He needed to relax. Stressing himself out was not going to solve anything. Maybe he just needed to go back to class, hear a lecture for a bit, let himself calm down. He had gotten himself all worked up to the point where he wasn't thinking clearly. He had been learning had better to deal with stress, and he prided himself on how well he thought he was doing. He recognized that getting himself all bothered didn't solve anything. Nothing bad was going to happen today. All the bad stuff for today already happened, and they took care of it. Maka was safe and healing. He need not worry about her today. He knew Soul wouldn't let anything happen to her. The rest of the day could be dedicated to himself. He would weigh his options later, but he needed to clear his head now. It would be okay. He was the only one who knew what was actually the cause of all these problems, and he might not even be right. If he was right, and it really was Medusa, someone else besides him would have surely noticed by now. Especially after that little display. He probably was wrong. Kim could've very well just healed Maka for good. Yes, yes, he was wrong. His mother was dead, oh so very dead. How silly of him to think even for a second that she could still be alive. He felt better now, he could relax now knowing that he was worrying for nothing.

He was just out of the door when he heard something that made him stop.

"Hey, Nygus, can I tell you something?" It was Kim that spoke. She was still in the room. It was only Kim and Nygus in there now. Her voice made Chrona want to know what she planned to say. Her tone was hushed, and serious.

"Of course, Kim, what is it?"

Chrona pressed himself against the wall beside the door to hear what they were saying.

"So, um... while I was fixing Maka up, I couldn't help but to notice something... which, uh, leads me to believe that this whole bad magic thing was not just an accident."

Oh God, no.

"What?" Nygus's voice suddenly became more urgent. "What do you mean? What did you notice?"

"I could sense something reacting to my magic. Something really strong. There are magic traces of more than one witch. One good witch, who cast the original spell... and then another, not so nice witch. The not so nice magic traces were... almost trying to avoid my healing magic. I can feel it. I don't think that this was an accident at all, I think someone deliberately tampered with Maka's spell."

No, no, oh please God, no.

"Oh my God..." Nygus sounded almost panicked. "You said 'someone', can you tell who? Can you recognize it?"

Chrona's heart stopped.

"No, I can't tell who, all I could tell was that it was very powerful, and it did not like me healing her. It would have had to be a very strong witch."

He allowed himself a breath of relief, however brief that relief was.

Kim continued. "I healed her damaged back, but I couldn't even try to touch that magic for two reasons. First off, I think Maka had just about taken as much as she could take at the time and I didn't want to push her any further than she needed to go. And secondly... even if I wanted to, I don't think I would've been able to. That was some powerful magic, I don't think I'm strong enough to counteract that. It was getting more and more aggravated the longer I was there. It wanted me to stop. I could feel it."

Chrona didn't stick around to hear what was said next. He bolted down the hallway, in the opposite direction he was originally going. He didn't stop running until he reached his bedroom.

He had done this before. Sometimes, daily life was just too much for him, or sometimes he would be faced with something he couldn't handle and he would just shut down. It was always the same routine. He would stop whatever he was doing, very calmly go down to his bedroom, take his pillow off his bed, and sit in his favorite corner. He didn't even think about it, his body just followed the routine, almost mechanically.

He had been getting better about it, but his sanity would sometimes dance on that dangerously thin line between stable and gone. He would have nightmares, or doubt himself, and there was always that madness there, waiting for him to have a weak moment. The madness would probably never fully go away. Before Maka had left, she would always be the one to pull him out of it. After she left, it as hard. Very hard. He had to learn to deal with it himself. Sitting in the corner helped.

But this was different. Whenever he had done this before, he was always very calm about it, as it was routine. He felt numb to everything. He would just sit and be quiet. This was different because he wasn't calm. He wasn't numb. He could feel everything. He could feel too much. He felt his heart clench, he felt his lungs tighten to the point where it was hard to breathe. He felt his stomach twist and turn. He didn't want to be quiet and sit in the corner, he wanted to scream and shout and break everything. He wanted to throw everything around in his room while screeching at the top of his lungs. He wanted something to release the pressure building up inside him.

He couldn't deny it anymore. He couldn't pretend. Kim knew. She didn't know much, but she knew too much. He had thought that he was the only one who knew what was really happening, but he was wrong. She didn't know as much as him, but that wouldn't stay true for long.

Her discover would surely lead the staff to searching for answers. They would of course want to know who cursed Maka, and they would do something about it. Nygus, Sid, Stein, Marie, Spirit, Shinigami himself would all attempt to figure it out, and it would not take them long. Soul, Kidd, Black Star, and the rest of them would be out for blood when they realized the trail led back to Medusa.

Realizing he had been pacing, Chrona stopped and flopped himself down on his bed. He rolled onto his side and curled his body around his pillow, clinging to it desperately.

Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way. He was fearful because he thought that they would figure out that he knew long before them and that he didn't say anything. They would punish him for keeping silent. He would lose the only good thing that ever happened to him, which was his home here at Shibusen. That's the mentality he had. But that was wrong. The only good thing that had ever happened to him, the best thing, was Maka.

The most important thing was that she was okay. It was known now by someone else that there was something very wrong with her. Kim told Nygus and Nygus would surely share that knowledge immediately. They could help her, they would see to it that she was taken care of. That's what was important.

He should go to Shinigami and tell him what he knew. Then there would be absolutely nothing to worry about. Yes, that's what he needed to do. For Maka. He could say that he wasn't sure, but when Kim felt it too, there was no question. It was true, that was exactly what happened.

But there was one big big big issue with all this that he had dare not think about. He could throw possibilities around all day, but he dare not acknowledge one lingering fact. A fact that he sort of, in the back of his mind, knew was true, even if he didn't want to believe it. He had been so certain that something like that was impossible, and it was that certainty that allowed him to fool himself into thinking it wasn't true. But... it was getting harder and harder to ignore.

All this meant that Medusa was some how... still alive.

Maybe he would sit in the corner after all.

...

It was Kidd that found Spirit out on the balcony. He had broken away from the rest of the group just as they were entering the classroom, and gone off in another direction, following Spirit's soul wavelength. He could sense him, outside on the balcony. He didn't know what he could say to him, but he felt that someone should at least go and check on him, make sure he was alright.

He knew he wasn't alright simply by how his soul felt, which was all the more reason to go check on him. His wavelength was heavy, not at all buzzing, as a normal healthy soul should be. All healthy souls had some level of vibration to them. Spirit's was still. It was unsettling. Kidd just needed to check on him.

Kidd was sure that Spirit hadn't even realized he'd appeared. He stood still, looking out at Death City. Kidd approached the banister where he was, and it wasn't until he stood right beside him that he saw his face. That, too, was unsettling. It was completely blank, no emotion, save for the tears steadily running down his cheeks, over the small cuts in his skin.

"Spirit?" Kidd asked. He still didn't move, or look at him. "Are you alright?"

Kidd had known Spirit almost all his life. Although they never really interacted one on one, Kidd saw him often, being the weapon of his father, and had gotten a pretty clear feeling for the kind of person he was that way. As far as being a parent, Kidd had seen alot of that too. Spirit and Shinigami had been partners since he was little, and although he never paid it much mind, he did recall sometimes Spirit would go to his father and talk up a storm about his wife and young daughter. Kidd and Maka didn't know each other back then, so he only knew what he heard. A reoccurring topic concerning little Maka was that she was mad at him.

Of course, now that he was older and had befriended Maka, he understood more about their family. Maka was bitter about the fact that her family was broken, that was common knowledge whether you were friends with her or not. She was specifically bitter towards her father because she believed it his fault. Even knowing all that, Kidd still found himself shocked by her earlier actions.

Spirit had been silent for quite a few moments, but when he did finally speak, it was quiet, his voice scratchy. "My daughter... my only daughter... "

He paused again. The pain in his voice was so great.

"My Maka... she means the world to me... "

His emotions were starting to spill through again. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the stone railing, and buried his face in his hands. His silent sobbing was made obvious by his jerking shoulders.

Kidd almost regretting coming to check on him now. Not because he didn't care, he did care, but because he was becoming more and more uncomfortable. He wasn't good at comforting people, and he didn't know what to say.

Spirit continued. "Maka is all I have... and really, I shouldn't even have her." He peeked up at Kidd through messy bangs and Kidd had to remind himself that this was not the time for his OCD to kick in. "Did you know that Kami actually got parental rights to Maka when we divorced? The only reason Maka's here and not with her is because Kami wanted Maka to stay at the school." He buried his face in his hands again.

Yes, Kidd definitely regretted coming up here. This was something Liz or Tsubaki should be doing. They were good at this. He wasn't. But it was too late now.

He awkwardly patted Spirit on the back. "Th-there, there." He honestly didn't know what else he could say.

He knew that there should absolutely be no sides here... but if there were, he'd be on Maka's. To be honestly, he understood why Maka disliked him so much. It was because he cheated on her mother, leading to the breaking of her family. It wasn't hard to understand. Even now, he continued to chase women around. He was always going on about how he was going to be better, but he never changed anything. To top it all off, he thought Maka was just being mean by disliking him.

And the worst part was that everybody knew it. Kidd wasn't even that close with Maka and he knew all this. Spirit made it very obvious what was going on, much to Kidd's disapproval. It was hard to comfort someone you didn't agree with.

"I love my daughter so much... and she hates me." Spirit went on. "I know I'm a terrible father, I know I've screwed up... but how can I make up for past mistakes if she never gives me a chance?"

Oh, look, there he goes again. Kidd didn't know how to respond because he honestly didn't know the answer. What would father say?

"Give her time." He said. Spirit looked up at him. "Maka has been through alot, and even now, she's going through something that I don't think any of us can fully understand. She's frustrated, and you probably just caught the heat of that frustration earlier."

Did Kidd really believe that? Yes and no. He did think that Maka was frustrated and going through something significant. He did not think that Spirit just happened to be the one to get lashed out at. Maka genuinely did not want to be around him. Kidd knew this, but what he said seemed to make Spirit feel better, so he'd keep it to himself.

"... Do you really think that?"

_No_. "Yes."

Spirit seemed to think about this, and then sighed. "That's actually another thing that bothers me..."

_Oh, God, no more, please._

"... Something is wrong with my baby, and I have no idea what."

Kidd thought back to earlier that day. There had been three times where he could feel nothing but pure unadulterated hostility coming from Maka's wavelength. He could sense something off about her soul, but he couldn't put his finger on it. At any rate, Spirit was right. There was something wrong with her, and they didn't know what.

"... Maka is a powerful girl." Kidd said finally. "She has a strong soul. There's alot to her. Whatever is wrong, she'll pull through like she always does. Personally, I'm not worried."

He was alittle worried, as any friend would be, but he did believe that she was strong enough to handle whatever it was that was going on.

This caused Spirit to smile. That same smile he always had when talking about Maka. "She is, isn't she?"

_Yes, I just said that, now can I leave please?_

Maka was always pushing Spirit away, Spirit should be used to it. Kidd had wondered why he took it so hard this time? Maybe because she struck him? She'd never done that before. Perhaps it was because that was the first time they had seen each other in half a year, and their reunion wasn't what Spirit wanted it to be. Whatever the reason, Spirit had gotten over it pretty fast, considering how down he was before. It must have not been as bad as he was letting on. Even his soul felt better now. Perhaps he was just pouting.

Spirit sighed again. His mood had improved greatly in the short time they had talked. He smiled at Kidd. "Thanks, Kidd. I know you've heard it all a million times before, but... thanks for listening. I feel better now."

Kidd forced a smile. "Of course, Spirit."

He never ever ever wanted to play therapist to anyone ever again.

**...**

**Good Lord, the time gets away from me. I hadn't realized how long it had been since my last update. I apologize.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Just so we're clear, this IS a ChronaxMaka pairing story. Don't let my hinting at other pairings fool you.**

...

Questioning authority was something that Chrona learned at a very young age to never ever do. Although he might not understand something, Medusa-sama always knew best. He eventually got the point where he didn't even wonder why anymore. He just obeyed, blindly. He didn't need to know, as long a mother did.

When he first met Maka, and she told him that the hunting of human souls was forbidden, he didn't think much of it. She obviously was not under the same authority as him. Maybe her higher ups forbid her from doing it, but he didn't answer to them. He answered to Medusa-sama, and Medusa-sama said it was okay. Medusa-sama told him to do it. And he listened, unquestioning. He wasn't even a loyal son. He was a puppet.

And really, it wasn't even him. It was Ragnarok. Ragnarok was the one eating the souls. Ragnarok was the one Medusa wanted to get stronger. Chrona's only purpose was to wield him, and also to make it easier for Medusa to control him. Medusa melted down Ragnarok and fused him into Chrona so that she would have power over him. Ragnarok was the one she wanted to make stronger, not Chrona. Granted, Ragnarok's strength was Chrona's strength, but that was just a casualty in her eyes. The focus was Ragnarok. The power was for Ragnarok. Chrona was just the puppet.

He wasn't daft, he knew what was happening. Ragnarok's soul was getting stronger. It was overpowering his own. Eventually, it would've shallowed him. Chrona's soul would've become just another one of the hundreds that Ragnarok had eaten. Chrona always thought that maybe that's what Medusa intended. She wanted Ragnarok to get stronger. She spent years building him up. They spent years devouring souls. With each new soul, Ragnarok got alittle bit stronger. Each new soul eaten was another step closer to Chrona's soul being lost as well. And there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. Ragnarok was the one with all the power. He was the one getting stronger.

What Maka had done was amazing. With one touch, she took all that power away from Ragnarok. Just one touch. Years of soul hunting, gone. With one hug. One hug had saved Chrona's life. Suddenly, he was in control again. He wasn't being overpowered anymore. He wasn't at the mercy of his own blood anymore. He wasn't doomed to swallowed up by his weapon. With one touch.

He may have not have consciously realized it then, but it was at that moment that Maka became his angel.

...

_Maka wandered through the streets of Death City. It wasn't late, but it was getting dark. There were clouds in the sky, threatening to storm. She would not ordinarily be out at this time, in these conditions, but she was on a mission._

_She couldn't find either of her parents. She had come home to an empty house. She knew her parents were busy people, they were both higher ups at the academy, Papa being a Death Scythe and Mama a three-star meister. But she never didn't know where they were. If they were ever not going to be home, they would tell her before hand, or at least leave a note. There was nothing. Just an empty, quiet house. She'd tried to call both of them, only to find both of their cell phones were in the house. She called Shinigami-sama via mirror to ask if they had gone on an emergency mission, which was known to happen from time to time. Not often, but not unheard of. When Shinigami said no, she got scared._

_She knew both her parents were perfectly capable of handling themselves, but not knowing what was going on, or where they were put knots in her stomach. She didn't know what else to do, so she left to look for them._

_She checked the grocery store, the coffee shop, the book store, every place she could think of that her parents could've possibly passed through. She didn't understand, how could they both have just disappeared? Where could they have gone? Without telling her? What should she do? Should she just go home and wait? What else could she do?_

_The longer she roamed around Death City, the more anxious she got. She was scared and she didn't know what to do. Maybe she should just go home. She didn't really have any other options. It had started raining, and she was cold. She felt like crying._

_With no other ideas, she started home again. Maybe Mama and Papa would be there waiting for her. Maybe they'd scold her for making them worry. Lecture her about how she shouldn't go out alone like that without telling anyone because you never know what kind of creeps you might run into. Honestly, she'd take a lecture and scolding gladly in that moment. She just wanted her parents to be home._

_They would definitely scold her if they knew she was going through the sleazy part of town, but it was the fastest way home and she was anxious to get there. She hugged herself and quickened her pace, her nose wrinkling up as the air became tainted with the smell of booze and cigarettes. There was trash on the ground and nearly naked women standing outside buildings that looked questionable. Some people shot her glances, but no one bothered her. She was only twelve, not much to look at._

_She was so busy looking around, she didn't notice the bump on the sidewalk until she had tripped over it. The wet stone walkway added to her slip and, in a moment of panic, she found herself rushing towards a face plant, with no way to stop her fall. She let out a yelp. She was going to fall and break her face on the sidewalk._

_She didn't. Someone had shot out of no where and caught her before she hit the ground. Maka looked up and saw a woman she didn't recognize._

_"Are you okay, sweetie?" The woman asked. Maka nodded numbly. She was still somewhat stunned from her near accident. She looked the woman over. She had a sweet voice, but her body portrayed anything but sweet. Her clothes were near gone, and what little clothing she did have were a size to small, making her huge breast spill out of her top. Her face could've been pretty, if she chiseled off a few layers of make up. She had long blonde hair that clearly needed a deep conditioning._

_"Thank you." Maka said. The woman was eyeing her strangely. It made her alittle uncomfortable._

_"Your welcome, hon." She said back. "What are you doing out here at this time, in this weather?" Her face then lit up like she realized something. She pointed a red polished finger towards her. "Oh, you're Spirit's daughter, aren't you?"_

_Maka perked up instantly. How did this woman know her? How did she know her Papa? She nodded vigorously._

_The woman smiled. "I thought so! He keeps a picture of you in his wallet. I've seen it a few times when he gets his money out."_

_What._

_Maka felt her throat close up ever so slightly. "H-h-how do you know my Papa?"_

_"Oh, he's a regular here." The woman gestured to the building behind her. It looked like some kind of bar/lounge/club/whatever. All Maka could figure from it was, if she were grown and married, this would be the last place she would want her husband to be. It looked shady. What business would he have in a place like this that he needed to be here 'regularly'? Well, she'd worry about that later._

_"Have you seen him recently?" She asked. She could feel the lump in her throat rising up. "I've been looking for him all night and I can't f-find him." Her voice cracked at the last part._

_The woman's eyes grew wide, her brows knit together. "Oh, sweetheart." She said, her voice concerned. "He's here now."_

_What._

_What._

_What?_

_That's all Maka could think, but her voice came up with nothing. She could feel her face get hot, her throat closing just alittle bit more. Her expression must've portrayed her feelings, because the woman's face grew ever more sympathetic. "He's been here for... I think the past couple of hours."_

_Maka finally could manage one word. "What?"_

_"C'mon, I'll take you to him." The woman took Maka's hand and led her into the building. The lights were dim, the air was smokey, and the music was deafening. People flooded this place, from wall to wall. There were near naked women flirting and touching all sorts of drunk men. Maka gripped the woman's hand tightly, not wanted to get separated from her. She felt this woman was nice, but she had no idea what kind of people these others were. This was absolutely the last place her Papa should be, and that fact made her throat tighten even more._

_The woman led her through the main club room to a back room. This room had more of a lounge feeling to it. The lights were still dim, but the music was easier, and it wasn't as crowded. It took Maka only seconds to find her father's red hair sticking out among the other people. He sat in the back corner of the room, red in the face, laughing, and covered in women. There was a woman on his lap, one leaning against his shoulder, and one sitting on the table in front of him, her legs crossed flirtatiously. Next the that woman were many empty beer bottles._

_"Spirit!" The woman holding Maka's hand called out to him. All the women he was surrounded by looked up before he did. They seemed surprised by her presents._

_"Romy, what are you doing?" One woman said. "You can't bring a minor in here!"_

_The woman, Romy, apparently, ignored her. "Spirit, I think you've upset your daughter." Her words were firm, scolding almost. Maka liked Romy._

_"Daughter?" Another woman said. They all waited for Spirit's drunken mind to catch up and say something._

_"Daughter?" Spirit repeated. His eyes landed on Maka, took in how she looked, her wide, scared eyes, her dripping wet hair and clothes, her trembling lip, and the tears the had begun to brim, and he sobered up almost immediately. "Maka?!" He practically pushed the women off of him and jumped up, stumbling greatly due to his buzz. "W-whateryou doing here?!" His speech was slurred. It made Maka sick._

_"What are YOU doing here?" Maka said back. She would've yelled, but she didn't for two reasons. The first, she didn't want to draw anymore attention than she already had, and two, she had to keep her voice in check, less she break down and the tears flow freely. She knew her father was a flirtatious man, she knew that his flirting was the cause of most of her parents' problems, she knew he was always very quick to pay attention to other women, she had always regarded his actions with disapproving annoyance, but this..._

_This was too much._

_Romy seemed to sense how upset Maka was, so she spoke instead. "Your little girl has been walking the streets, in the rain, looking for you, Spirit."_

_Upon hearing this, the other women seemed shocked and looked at Spirit with disapproving expressions. Spirit was about to say something, defend himself, but Maka didn't give him the chance._

_"Why are you in a place like this? You're married. Does Mama know you're here?" Her voice came out in short gasps. She felt a jerking in her chest that didn't allow her to speak clearly. The sound made the scantily clad women look at her with eyes full of sympathy. "I came home and you weren't there, I called the academy and no one knew where you were, I thought something happened to you, I was scared!"_

_"Oh, honey..."_

_"Spirit, how could do that to her?"_

_"Just look how scared she is, poor little thing..."_

_Spirit ignored the women's comments. His face displayed nothing but guilt, but Maka seriously questioned whether he could even process what she was saying. His eyes were blood shot, his cheeks red, his stance slumped. No, no, she was not about to stand here and give a damned drunk the chance to defend himself. There was only one true answer he could give anyway. And that was that he didn't give a damn about her or Mama._

_Without another thought, Maka turned and ran. She ran out the door to this back room and found herself, once again, in the crowded, smoky, flashing main room of this club. She had no idea were the front door was, much less anyway to get through this crowd. She felt like a damned fool. Here she had been seriously worrying about her father, and he had been shit faced, covered in women the whole time. And she still didn't know where Mama was. The tears had already started flowing down her cheeks, she feared she looked as pathetic as she felt._

_She felt an arm go around her shoulders. She tensed, thinking it her father, but it wasn't. It was the same woman, Romy. "Come on, honey." She led her through the crowd again, pushing aside drunk men and near naked women so that Maka could get through, and exited out the same door they had come in. By the time they reached outside, Maka had begun sobbing. She strained to stay as quiet as possible, to prevent anymore attention drawn to herself, but her choking sounds couldn't be held back._

_Romy rubbed Maka's back comfortingly. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart." She reached into her shirt and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. "Here, on your way home, stop and get yourself something to eat." She put the money in Maka's coat pocket before she had a chance to decline the offer._

_Maka's body shook with each sob. It took her a moment, but she forced herself to calm down enough so that she could speak. "Th-th-thank you." She stuttered, shivering from both the cold, and her emotional state. "Th-thank you for... h-helping me."_

_"Oh, anytime, honey." Romy pulled her close to her and kissed the top of her head. "Now go on home. Your Mama is probably there now, waiting for you." Unable to speak anymore, Maka just nodded. As she turned and walked down the street, it hit her._

_A prostitute had just shown more concern for her in ten minutes than her father had in the past couple of years._

_..._

Maka woke up, once again, at an ungodly hour of the morning. Her face was wet with tears from the dream she had had. Because it wasn't a dream. It was a memory.

Spirit had always been a flirtatious man, Maka's whole life had been spent watching him schmooze other women, but that night at that club was the first time in Maka's life that she had actually been forced to acknowledge something that she had dared not think about up until then. And that was that her father could, and probably had, cheated on her mother.

One of the things she hated most about the sting left in her chest by her parents split was that she couldn't really talk to anyone about it. Well, she could, of course, but she didn't. She wanted to, but she knew if she did, she'd have to hold back was she really thought because everyone would say the same thing. She actually felt like her parents' split was her fault, and she knew everyone would try and tell her that wasn't true. She knew they'd say that, so why bother?

Truth was, Maka didn't think her parents were ever meant to be together, no matter how bad she wanted them to. She really did believe that they loved each other, but sometimes, love just wasn't enough. She felt that the only reason her parents got married was because they conceived her by accident as teenagers. They were young and stupid and screwed around and got pregnant by mistake. Maka knew she was a mistake, anyone who tried to disagree with her was just fucking stupid. Her mother was 17 and her father was 18. People would always mistake Maka and her mother for sisters, because Kami was too young to have a daughter Maka's age. But here she was.

All men in there late teenage years like to flirt and screw around, Spirit was no exception. Tying the knot with his pregnant girlfriend wasn't about to stop him from being a typical man who wasn't ready to settle down yet. In fact, he probably only did it to shut her up. Marriage didn't change anything except Kami's last name.

Sometimes, Maka wondered if her parents' relationship would've worked out if she hadn't come along. By being there, she forced them together. And just like any other thing you try to force together, it made them want to break apart. They didn't want to be together because they had to. Maka wondered if maybe they could've come together on their own and made it work had she not come along.

She remembered her mother telling her stories about when she was born. Obviously, being first time parents at such a young age had sufficiently scared the living daylights out of both of them, especially Spirit. Mama had told Maka that, scared as she was, she could feel the little soul inside of her and she knew that it would be okay. She said that, even though they hadn't met yet, she could feel little Maka growing inside her, and she knew that she loved her. She said she never ever thought she could love something so much as she did Maka.

Spirit never told her stories like that. But Mama had also said that she knew he wasn't as okay with their teen pregnancy as she was, simply because he didn't have the privilege of feeling the baby grow and bonding with it before it even took it's first breath. Mama had told her that the first time she saw him truly become a father, was when he held her for the first time. She said that was the first time she ever saw Spirit shed tears, with a big smile on his face and a baby girl in his arms.

Maybe that was all fine and good back then, but Maka could give two shits about that now. The fact of the matter was that Spirit fucked up. She wouldn't let sweet baby stories or 'young and naive' excuses cloud her better judgement. There was no forgiving what he did to her mother, and in turn, what he did to their family.

Maka rolled onto her back and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and then realized she was actually wearing a sleeve. She never wore sleeves to bed, what was this?

Oh, right. She had come straight home from the hospital. This was Chrona's sweater.

Oh God, what a day. She didn't want to think about it. She would just start crying again. Nothing was going her way. It started off bad and just got worse. This wasn't what she wanted her return to be like. She wondered if it even possible at this point to repair the damage that had been done.

Ugh, don't think about it. The tightening feeling in her chest was a cue to stop, lest she really start crying. She had just woken up and already was so upset. How pathetic. She threw her arms over her face, trying to focus on something else and force her heartbeat back to normal.

The sleeves smelled like flowers. Like Chrona. She brought the bend of her elbow to her face and inhaled. It smelled just like him. She rolled onto her side and wrapped her arms around herself. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could pretend Chrona was holding her. That's what she needed, was some cuddles. She wished he were here to actually hold her. Chrona was the only one she really felt safe with. Not safe like, safe from danger exactly, but... She felt like he was the only one she didn't have to worry about being judged by. She could be herself with him, because she knew he would never look down on her, like the others did. Of course, they would never admit to thinking she was weak, but they didn't have to. She could tell. She could feel the pity in their wavelengths when they looked at her. It made her sick. She didn't need their damn pity.

Chrona never looked at her with pity. When he looked at her, she felt him fill up with admiration, and that made her so happy. He was worried for her, just like everyone else, but it was different. She knew that he knew that she was better than this. Even after being gone for so long, he still felt like she was his protector, just like before she left. Even after all this nonsense with her scars and tattoo, he still looked at her like everywhere she stepped was scared ground. She could feel it.

She may not have learned what she wanted to on her trip, but she did learn alot. Her Mama was the best teacher she'd ever had, and there was very little she didn't know about souls. She taught Maka alot, and not to be big headed, but Maka considered herself pretty knowledgable herself now. Souls could tell you anything, if you focused hard enough and knew what to look for. There was little Maka couldn't tell from a person's soul. She could read their emotions, their fears, their desires, she could practically read their thoughts. It was a hard skill to learn, but once she mastered it, it felt so natural.

She had alot taught her alot about soul vibrations, which was how high or low a person's wavelength was. It was surprisingly simply to adjust your vibrations, it was all based on emotions and one's disposition. Things like joy, love, excitement, contentment, laughter, things that made you feel good, they raised one's vibration higher, making the wavelength stronger. Things like anger, jealousy, hatred, sadness, fear, things that made you feel bad, they had the opposite affect. They lowered the vibrations, making the wavelength weaker. The weaker the wavelength, the harder resonation was to achieve.

Maka sighed. She certainly was not vibrating very high after all that had happened recently.

Maybe she had been going about this the wrong way. Maybe she just needed to take some time to rise her vibration back up. Her vibration had been crazy high before her accident, and raising it was as easy as doing things that made you happy. She knew she was strong, and had gotten stronger, she just hadn't had a chance to prove it yet.

A sound soul dwells within a sound mind, and a sound body. Her body definitely was not sound, but maybe she could at least get her mind to be.

She smelled her sleeve again. Chrona. Chrona made her happy. Maybe she should spend some time with Chrona.

She wanted to be with him tonight. She wondered briefly if it would be inappropriate to ask him if she could spend the night. She glanced at her bedside clock. 4:32 AM flashed back at her. Well, there goes that.

She just wanted to cuddle with him. She wanted him to hold her. She had never really imagined every wanting to sleep in the same bed as him before, but it didn't feel strange to be thinking it. It felt normal. It was innocent, after all. She just wanted to cuddle.

Well, great. Now she was sad AND lonely.

The pressure built up in her chest again as she sluggishly crawled out of bed and rose to her feet. She shuffled out of her bedroom and down the hall until she reached a door. As silently as possible, she opened it and peered in. It was pitch black dark, save for a small glow provided by the moonlight shining in through the window. It wasn't enough to see by, but it gave the contents of the room a slight outline, so at least she didn't trip on anything as she tip toed across the floor.

When her knee hit the side of the bed, she stopped and slowly lowered herself onto her knees. She reached out blindly until her hand brushed soft hair. She traced her fingers down until her palm was against a warm cheek. "Soul?"

She heard him give a small sigh. She dragged her hand lower, resting now on his shoulder, and she gave it a small nudge. "Soul."

He shifted, stirring from his sleep. He made some incoherent noises before she heard him say, "Maka?" His voice was quiet, the tiredness weighing heavily on each word. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry I woke you." Dammit. It was happening already. Her words were quiet, but the choking sound could be heard anyway. "Can I sleep in here?"

He didn't answer verbally, but slowly scooted backward and pulled the covers back. She was already shaking from silent tears as she crawled in bed with him. Soul wasted no time, even in his drowsy state, in pulling her to his chest. As she buried her face in his neck, she felt guilty for waking him with this God awful display, but she couldn't stand to be alone anymore. He kissed her forehead and lazily stroked her hair comfortingly. She could feel that she was getting the front of his shirt wet. She didn't even know why she was crying. It's not like she didn't have plenty of reason to, but she didn't have anything particular in mind. She was just... crying.

It felt good though. It felt like she was releasing all the pressure that had built up inside her. Maybe she had been right. She was looking at her situation the wrong way. She needed to stop focusing on the bad stuff and focus on the good stuff. It would be okay. She would be okay.

She wrapped her arms around Soul's waist and squeezed as she continued to cry on him. She really did love Soul, and was so happy she had him. He really felt like a twin brother to her. She knew she could count on him for anything. He had been the one to save her from her father earlier that day.

Honestly, she'd rather be in someone else's arms, but she'd take what she could get. She loved Soul, but he still had that air about him that lead Maka to believe that he thought she was weak. Not a 'haha, you weak pathetic little weak thing' kind of weak, but more of a 'you poor weak little thing, you need to be taken care of because you're weak' kind of weak. Chrona was still the only one who didn't think she was weak, not in the slightest.

She had never really thought much of it, but she liked Chrona. She liked Chrona alot.

...

The harsh buzzing sound of Soul's alarm that early in the morning was quite possibly the most God awful thing Maka had ever heard. She physically jerked when the loud sound violently forced her out of her sleep. Soul's fist shot out automatically and smashed down on the snooze button, silencing the God awful thing.

Maka sunk back down into the surface she was laying on. Was it morning already? Ugh, she didn't want to get up yet. She still had to mentally prepare herself for the up coming day. She had decided last night that she would be better, just concentrate on good things, but that was easier said than done. She was still exhausted from the previous day and her muscles were sore. She just wanted alittle bit more time. Well, she had about an hour. She might as well put her best foot forward and start the day off right. She could get up, take a shower, eat something...

Wait a minute.

She was in Soul's room. That was Soul's alarm. He didn't wake up as early as she did. Maka opened her eyes.

Class started in twenty minutes. Goddammit Soul. So much for putting your best foot forward.

She went to look at him and was a bit taken back to find that she was actually laying on top of him. He was still asleep, drool trailing down his chin. Apparently turning off his alarm was just a reflex he had developed. He had one arm above his head, and the other was resting on her lower back. She could hear him snoring ever so slightly. Her hands were already resting on his shoulders, so she nudged them. "Soul, wake up."

Just as he had the previous night, he gave a small sigh as a response. But unlike the previous night, Maka wasn't concerned with waking him gently. She nudge his shoulder again with more force. "Soul!"

He grunted and pulled the pillow over his face, but Maka would have none of that. She sat up, basically straddling him, pulled the pillow from his face and shook him again. "Soul, wake up!" As soon as the sunlight hit his face, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly and grunted again. Slowly, after rubbing his eyes for a bit, he opened them. He stared at her for a bit, but it was clear he couldn't actually see her, his vision had yet to adjust to the bright morning light. He squeezed his eyes shut again and then opened them. He blinked a few more times before he finally realized Maka was on top of him. She watched him turn a deep shade of red for some reason. It's not like physical contact was something they were strangers to, why would he blush like that?

"Morning, Sunshine. We gotta get up, class starts soon." She said. She shifted to get off of him, but stopped. She felt something. What was that? Was that a... bone... or something? If felt like a bone. It was hard, like a bone. But why was it sticking out like that? She shifted over it, trying to get an idea of what it was. As she did this, Soul's face got redder.

Oh.

Ohhhhhh.

As realization dawned on her, she looked him in the eye, her mouth going into a tight line.

"What?! It's the morning!" He said, defensively, his face darkening even more.

Maka continued to stare at him, and she could almost see his self-consciousness rising under her gaze. His wavelength screamed with insecurity. She knew that it probably shouldn't, but it was alittle comforting to know that she wasn't the only one with self doubts.

And, for some reason, this brought out her inner bitch.

She smiled. This seemed to confuse him. "You're so cute." She said, and leaned in to kiss the top of his head, effectively positioning her breasts right in his face. She was sure to do so in a way that led him to believe that she was unaware of her actions. Six months ago, this would not have done anything. She was glad she had matured physically. She felt a spike of shock on his wavelength immediately. She reached up to run her fingers through his hair and nuzzled her cheek on his forehead.

"You don't have to be shyyyy." The teasing tone of her voice was obvious, she felt. One would have to be a fool to miss it. But still, his soul read as shocked, confused, embarrassed, and alittle ashamed. Ashamed because he thought that her actions were innocent and that she had no idea what she was really doing. Also, ever so slightly aroused, but conflicted, because he didn't want to be aroused.

This was kind of fun. Now she knew why Blair did it.

"M-Maka..." She could feel that he didn't know what to do. He didn't know whether he wanted her to stop or not, and he did not like being unsure about something like that. She could still feel the bulge in his pants pressed up against her thigh, and she realized that this was probably really mean of her. But the look on his face was priceless. She sat up again and gave him a mischievous smile, the sweater she wore falling off one of her shoulders. She knew the position was compromising. Soul's face was a deep scarlet now, and she could feel him getting all hot and bothered. Maybe she was just a bitch, but this was horribly amusing to her. It reinforced that sense of ownership she had over him. She leaned down again, pressing her body up against his, her face dangerously close to his. He gasped, and she could feel his breath on her lips.

Before he had time to realize what had happened, she was up and standing next to the bed, sweater back in place on her shoulder. "Seriously though, Soul, get up. Don't want to be late now."

Oh, the look he gave her, it made her so happy.

It was something of an angry look, but he wasn't angry exactly. He was confused and frustrated and hot and bothered. He glared at her. He was pouting. He was really pouting.

Good job, Maka.

Yes, she definitely was just a bitch, but she couldn't help it. She pretended not to notice his pout and turned to leave his room. "I don't think I'm going to go to morning lessons." She continued innocently. "I'm really sore from yesterday and I want to take a shower. I'll come in around lunch time."

The mention of the previous day wiped the pout off his face in an instant. "Oh, hey, so what happened yesterday?" He asked. "You really... went off on your dad. Why?"

Maka's face dropped into a scowl as she stopped in the doorway. "Because he's the devil and I didn't want him near me."

The look on Soul's face told her that he didn't really understand, but he wasn't about to argue over it.

"And as for what happened..." She continued. "Apparently, my scars never healed properly, because of my tattoo. It's a long, weird story why, but Kim fixed me up." She reached over her shoulder to touch her back. Her muscles there were sore. "Hurts like the dickens today though."

She turned to leave, but her inner bitch resurfaced for just a moment, and a twisted idea came to mind. She stopped just outside the door and turned to face him. "By the way." She looked from his face, to his crotch, and back to his face, and winked. "Not bad."

The glare/pout was back on his face in an instant.


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy belated 4th of July, my American friends!**

**I apologize in advance to all my male readers. I don't really think you're dumb.**

**And I just realized I never said this earlier, so I'll say it now. I like Spirit as a character, but he is a terrible, awful father, I'm sorry. I do believe that he loves Maka, but it's not enough to just love your child if you're not going to be there for them.**

**...**

Maka felt alittle bad about teasing Soul, but it was just so gosh darn fun. And it was a huge ego boost just to know that she could. An ego boost that she desperately needed.

And here she thought that waking up late would be a set back. No, quite the opposite, she was in a very good mood.

Before Soul had left, she told him the details about her visit to the hospital. About how her spell had hindered the healing of her wounds, and about how Kim had to magically push past the spell to repair them properly. She told him about how her spell was 'jinxed', which he seemed very uneasy about. He asked what they could do to fix it, and she told him she didn't know, but was sure that the teachers would figure something out. Like Hell, they would just stand by while a student walked around with a bad spell on them. He seemed uneasy, but accepted what she said as true, and went off to class.

Contrary to what she had originally thought, it actually felt good to talk about it. It felt like a weight had been lifted, like she wasn't bottling it up inside anymore. It felt good to share this heavy knowledge with someone else. Yes, yes, today would be a good day. She had eaten breakfast, showered, and now stood in her room in a towel before her mirror.

She knew it was silly and maybe alittle childish, but she wanted people to think she was pretty. She wanted to be considered attractive. She was tired of being the plain jane, nothing special friend. People had always told her she was cute, but she didn't want to be cute, she wanted to be pretty. She had stopped wearing her hair in pigtails because she realized how childish people probably thought that was. She didn't want to be seen as childish. The assumption always was that she was significantly younger than all her friends, because they were beautiful and endowed and curvy. True, she was the youngest, but not by that much! She wanted to be perceived as mature. She wanted others to know how much she had grown since her trip. She didn't want to be a little girl anymore, she wanted to be a young woman. Pigtails didn't exactly scream 'adult'.

Mama had always treated her like an equal. She never told her she was too young for something. There had been a time or two when someone would make a comment along the lines of 'You let your daughter do that?' and her answer was always the same. "She's a fucking adult, I don't let her do anything. She can make her own Goddamn choices." She loved Mama.

Unfortunately, people here were not as open minded, she felt. They had to be convinced.

Maka dropped her towel and looked at her naked body in the mirror. She knew it was Soul's fault she was so self-conscious, she had never had a problem with her body until he started making fun of her. Honestly, she didn't think it was that bad. At least she had decent boobs now. Maybe not as good as their other female friends, but they didn't have to swing a scythe around all day. Large breasts weren't fighting-friendly. She knew that simply because her own breasts got in her way sometimes and she could only imagine how much worse it would be if they were any bigger. She still felt that they weren't even that big, they just looked big compared to her small frame. Also, they looked big on her just because people were so used to her having nothing. But she liked them. They were her perfect size. They were round and perky and nice. She was happy with them.

She didn't to ruin her good mood vibe by looking at her back, but she wanted to see. She might as well. She knew they wouldn't be any different. They never got less ugly. They weren't going anywhere. They'd be there for the rest of her life. Like cracks in her skin. Ugly reminders of one stupid accident.

She slowly turned around. She stared at her back for a long moment before it clicked in her head exactly what she was looking at.

They were faded. Like, significantly faded. They were still there, and they were still ugly, but they didn't stand out nearly as much. They had actually gotten less ugly. She could've cried.

Whereas they used to be almost the width of her pinky finger, they had gotten thinner. One could still easily see them, there was a stark color difference from the rest of her skin, but they didn't look as bad as they had. She would have to thank Kim.

She couldn't help but feel like this was symbolic of her turning her attitude around. Had could she expect to move on from her accident if she worried about it so much? Since when did her negative attitude have so much power over her? She needed to take that power back and focus it on raising her vibration. To get better, she had to be better.

Her heart swelled, and she couldn't help the big smile that spread across her face. A tight feeling returned to her chest, but she didn't mind it. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she didn't care.

"Maka!" A voice startled her, and she turned to see a dark purple cat in the doorway. "Why are you crying, nya?"

Maka wiped her face with her hand. "I'm happy." She turned her back to Blair, not caring that she was nude. "Look."

Blair poofed into a woman, an excited expression on her face. "Maka! They got better!"

"I know!" Maka giggled alittle as she spoke. She looked at the front of her body in the mirror again. She could also see Blair in the mirror standing behind her. They both had very different bodies. Maka knew that there were different types of beautiful, and everyone had different tastes, but she feared that more people subscribed to Blair's type of beauty.

"Hey, Blair." Her voice had gone soft. "Am I... pretty?"

Blair seemed completely thrown off by her question, her eyes going wide, but she wasted no time in answering. When she did answer, her voice wasn't as playful as usual. "Maka, you are beautiful. Don't you ever doubt that!" She came up behind her and hugged her, looking over her shoulder at the mirror. When she spoke next, her voice was very serious, almost dangerous. "Why, did someone insult you? Because I will cut a bitch if someone insulted you."

Maka chuckled. "No, no one insulted me, I just..." She sighed. "I know I'm pretty in my own... weird, different way. But sometimes... I just think that I'm not really anyone's... type."

She hadn't been looking at Blair's expression, but when she saw it in the reflection of the mirror, it confused her. She was looking at her like she was crazy, her mouth a tight line, her eyes half lidded and brows knit together. "Okay." She said in her normal voice. "I blame Soul for that."

Maka turned to look at her face. "What do you mean?"

Blair released her and stepped around to stand next to the mirror, in front of her. "Maka, you only think that because your little boy of a partner spent so many years teasing you about that fact that you were a late bloomer. And that was when you were younger. I bet you he's eating his own words now." She smirked at her. "Blair saw what happened this morning. Blair saw the look on Soul's face."

A smug grin slowly spread on Maka's face as her cheeks darkened. Blair had this weird habit of knowing things that one would never suspect she knew. Maka chuckled. "Not gonna lie, it was fun." She said. "Now I know why you do it." This made Blair laugh. She threw her arms around Maka again.

"Blair is so proud of you!" She said. "You've grown up so much!" She released her and then continued what she had been saying. "Anyway, Maka, men are stupid. Like... they're really dumb. Especially when it comes to the things they say. Men and women think differently. It doesn't occur to them that the things they say can be hurtful. Like Soul, for example. I'll bet money that when he was teasing you all those times, he never once thought about the fact that he could be the reason for you being self conscious about your body. He never entertained the thought that he might actually be hurting your feelings. Men are _really_ dumb. Like, stupid dumb. Personally, I think they're only really good for one thing." She winked. And, you know, something else, I think the reason Soul teased you so much was probably because he's insecure about himself, so he projected that onto you." She leaned against the mirror. "My mother told me something when I was a kitten, and that was 'What Sally says of Susie says more of Sally than of Susie.'"

Maka thought about what she felt in Soul's wavelength earlier that day and realized that Blair might be right. Could all those years of teasing just be a cover up for his own insecurities? She had always though, early on in their partnership, that making fun of her breasts was a stupid thing to do, because being partners wasn't about how attracted you were to someone, it was who matched your wavelength best. Also, he had said a few times that no one wanted a partner with such small breasts, but there he was, with a partner with small breasts. It didn't make sense then, but it was making sense now. He did it because he was the one who was self-conscious. He did it to make himself feel better.

"What I'm getting at here, Maka, is that the only reason you might think that you're no one's type, is because you're so used to the men in your life only being attracted to one type of woman. And, really, you don't even know if that's what they really like. They only _admit_ to liking one type of woman. Because they think that's what people expect of them." As she continued, Maka put on her bra and panties. "Men think that people expect them to like big boobs and small waists. Humans are creatures of habit. They don't like to admit to liking something different, they think they'll be judged for being attracted to something that's not the textbook definition of a desirable woman. I think that men are more scared of judgement then women are."

Maka was utterly shocked by Blair. She had never been so open and deep before. They had never had a conversation like this before. But everything Blair was saying made Maka think. Could Blair be right? She could only assume that if anyone knew anything about men, it was Blair. She felt a warm feeling in her chest and she hadn't felt in awhile. She had always sort of felt like Blair's presence had numbed a certain emptiness she felt from her mother's absence, but this was the first time Blair had really acted like it. It was enough to make Maka cry again.

She didn't, but she could have.

"Do you get what I'm saying, Maka?" Blair said. Maka smiled and nodded, and then gave the cat woman a hug. Blair squeezed her tightly and added, "And if anyone ever tries to tell you that you're not beautiful, you just let little ol' Bu-tan know, and Bu-tan will cut a bitch."

Bu-tan. Hadn't heard that nickname in awhile.

"Thank you, Blair." She said. "I know it's silly, but..."

"Maka, whatever you're going to say, don't say it, because it's not silly." Blair interrupted. She made her way over to Maka's closet and started digging through it. "It's perfectly normal for a person to get alittle self-conscious sometimes. And there's nothing wrong with wanted to be attractive and have someone think you're attractive." She began to pull out clothes and examine them. "You have so many cute clothes, this will be harder than I thought."

"What are you doing?" Maka asked, and took her makeup bag off the dresser. She might as well get something done while she waited got Blair to do... whatever Blair was doing. She didn't wear alot of makeup, goodness no, but it was amazing the difference alittle mascara and liner could do.

"I'm picking out an outfit for you!" She had started pulling out clothes and throwing them over the top of the mirror for Maka to put on. "See, you're in a perfect position right now to make a statement. You've been gone for a long time, but they remember you as you were, right? Like I said, men are stupid. You're girlfriends notice, but boys don't. You want them to see something, you have to show them."

Notice what? Show them what? Statement about what?

Maybe she would understand what Blair was getting at when they were done, but now she was just confused. She took the clothes off the top of the mirror and examined then. They weren't extravagant, as she expected of Blair. There was a simple light gray tank top and some jean shorts. What was Blair getting at here? She pulled the tank top over her head and looked in the mirror.

Ohhhh, now she got it.

This tank top was probably two size too small. It exposed about four fingers worth of her stomach, and was very generous with the cleavage. Should she really wear this? How did Blair know that it would do this just by looking at it on the hanger?

Her phone buzzed on the dresser. She snapped her eyes away from the mirror to look at the screen. She had a text from Chrona.

She grabbed the phone and unlocked it. What time was it? Class should be going on right now. Lunch would be in another hour or so, and that's when she wanted to make her appearance.

1 New Message From Chrona:

_Miss you._

"Aww, what a sweetie!" Blair suddenly appeared, looking over her shoulder. "That Chrona is such a cutie pie."

For whatever reason, Maka felt very hot all of the sudden. Her heart did a leap at the thought of Chrona missing her, but she didn't know why. What she did know, was that she suddenly wanted more than ever to look pretty today.

"You like him!"

She snapped her gaze to Blair, who was looking at her with wide, excited eyes. "What?"

"You like him!" It wasn't a question, she stated it very matter-o-factly. "I can smell it. You're blushing! You like him! I told you he was a cutie pie. Not at all my type, but you two would make such an adorable couple!" Blair bounced off to some other part of the room, Maka didn't pay attention to where. "I mean, everyone knows he's been crazy about you since you first brought him here."

"What?"

"Oh yeah, he's totally coo-coo for coco puffs about you." Blair spoke casually, as if what she was saying was common knowledge. "He's got maaaad Maka fever."

"Whoa, whoa, what?" Maka turned to face Blair, finding her at her desk, looking over the things she had laid out. "Really? How do you know? How can you tell?"

Once again, Blair looked at her like she was crazy. "How can you not tell?" Maka bewildered expression caused Blair's jaw to drop. "Are you fucking with me? Do you really not know?"

"Chrona likes me?" That felt weird to say. But the possibility that it might be true made her feel even weirder. It was a feeling she couldn't explain, as she had never felt it before. No one had ever liked her before. She felt... tingly. She pictured Chrona in her head. The same Chrona that she befriended in the catacombs under the school. The same Chrona that gave her the necklace that she rarely took off. She was wearing it now. She took hold of it in her fingers and looked at it._ Key to My Heart_.

Holy tits.

Blair came up behind her again and put something over her shoulders. She looked down to see Chrona's button up sweater. "There, see? With the sweater, you can get away with showing off your tummy and boobies without being inappropriately dressed for school!"

Leave it to Blair to know all the tricks about showing off cleavage.

"And also," Blair continued, her voice turning playful. "It still smells like your little lover boy!"

Maka looked herself over in the mirror again and, of course, Blair was right. The tank top by itself looked alittle scanty, but the sweater balanced it enough that she didn't feel uncomfortable. It was almost like a peep show. She was basically covered up, except for her boobs. Showing off cleavage was something she never ever thought she would ever do, ever, for the simple reason that she didn't have any. She was glad Blair was here to show her how it was done, the PG way.

She pushed the sleeves of the sweater up to her elbows and put on her shorts. As she did this, Blair busied herself by rummaging through the things on Maka's desk again. Maka put her bracelets back on her wrists and her earrings in her ears. She saw that Blair had also laid out some socks and boots for her, which she pulled onto her feet. Combat boots. She couldn't decide if that was typical Blair or not.

"You should bring this with you!" Blair appeared in front of her again, holding out a large book to her. It was a photo album, filled with pictures from her trip. There were tons of photos in there, as her mother always had a camera with her and wanted to document everything. "Show it to your friends! Show them all the cool, fun stuff you did!"

A smile spread across Maka's face. That was actually a brilliant idea. She had just been moping earlier about how she would love to just show off all the cool and amazing things she had done, what better way than to just show them?

Blair was actually a really smart gal when she kept her breasts inside her shirt.

She looked into her mirror one last time, happy with what she saw. She still wasn't sure if she felt pretty or not, but she could at least take some comfort in the fact that she was prettier than she was six months ago. Well, she would take what she could get.

"Oh, one more thing!" Blair said, and rounded on Maka again until she stood in front of her. With no hesitation, she plunged her hands into Maka shirt and started yanking at her breasts.

"What are you doing?" Maka asked, trying half-heatedly to pull away. She didn't react like she normally would have simply because she felt that Blair was on a roll with making her feel better, and she might as well see what happened here.

"Look!" Blair retracted her hands and turned Maka towards the mirror again. Blair had effectively pushed her breasts up in her bra to the point where they screamed cleavage. Maka looked a them quizzically.

"You sure that's not... too much?"

Blair scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, please." She then turned on her heel and made her way to the door. "I have to be at work soon, so have a good day, Maka!"

Maka smiled again. She really did feel better. She had been in a good mood earlier, but now she felt absolutely warm and fizzy inside. She felt like she had bonded with Blair through this. She knew that it would be a good day today.

What a minute.

She ran to her door and yelled down the hall to Blair. "Wait, so Chrona likes me?!"

Blair shrieked with laughter. "Byeeeee!" Maka heard the front door close.

...

Even thought she wasn't consciously thinking about it, the very possibility that Chrona could like her hadn't escaped Maka's mind since Blair had said it. Reason why she was not consciously thinking about it, was because she wasn't really consciously thinking about anything. She was on auto-pilot, with only one ever present thought going through her head.

She wanted to make a good impression.

Or something to that affect anyway. She wanted to be marveled at. She wanted them to look in her photo album and see all the amazing things she had done and be impressed. She wanted to show off all the good things she'd done. She was still mortified that the first thing they'd seen of her since she'd returned was every bit of bad things that had happened, but she was starting to believe that she could still change that.

She thought about what was in the album. There were pictures of her and her mother in all sorts of different location, there were pictures from her 18th birthday party, which had been held at her grandmother's large home in London, pictures of her with extended family, pictures of them in beautiful clothing, pictures of them dancing, singing, playing with local kids. There were pictures of her playing instruments. She had poured herself into learning how to play some kind of music because she thought it would be fun for her and Soul to play together. She hadn't told anyone about that yet. The more she thought about it, the more excited she got to show it off.

She also wanted to feel pretty today, more than she did earlier. She wanted to attract the attention of a certain pink-haired meister. She wasn't sure why, she thought maybe she just wanted to see if she could. She still had trouble wrapping her head around the fact that he might like her. Was Blair just teasing? Was she serious? If Chrona had any feelings for her other than that of a dear friend and mentor, she'd be able to sense it, right?

Come to think of it, she'd never tried before. She'd only been back for a few days, and the skill to read emotion had only just been acquired recently. She hadn't used it on Chrona yet. She hadn't felt the need to. She's never before been curious as to what he was feeling, as she always thought that he shared most things with her on his own.

Suppose she did throw her soul reading radar in Chrona's direction. Suppose she sense his soul and sense his emotions. Suppose, God forbid, Blair had not been lying. Suppose Chrona did have feelings for her. Would her finding it out on her own without him telling her be an invasion of privacy? Should she not read him? Should she let him decide on his own if that was something he wanted her to know?

Oh God, what if he really did have feelings for her?

Chrona likes her.

Chrona has feelings for her.

Chrona may or may not possibly have feelings for her, maybe.

She wanted to know. She wanted to know bad.

She was never really one to believe something unless she heard it straight from the source. She didn't think that Blair would lie to her, but there was always the change of Blair being factually incorrect. Blair might just be guessing and assuming, but where was the proof?

Truthfully, what really filled her with doubt was the fact that no one had ever liked her before. She didn't know how to process it. She'd never dealt with feelings like these, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do now.

How did she feel?

She still wasn't sure. She liked Chrona. She liked Chrona alot. But she'd never really entertained the idea of... romantically being with him. Well, let's make a list, huh?

He was very sweet. He was dependable. He was always there for her. She was comfortable with him. She felt safe with him. He was the one person who never ever looked down on her. She felt attached to him, and she knew very well that he was attached to her at the hip. She wanted to be near him, though she'd never really thought about why. He was so cute too. The kind of cute that you just wanted to scoop him up and put him in your back pocket and take him home and keep him forever to cuddle with and play with.

Did she like Chrona? Like, _like_ Chrona?

Stop. Stop right there. She knew what would happen if she starting thinking about that, and that was that she would just stress herself out. Today was a good day, remember? Why did she have to know all the details to everything anyway? Why couldn't she just go with the flow, relax, and have fun? So she was exactly sure if she had feelings for Chrona, but hey, she wasn't sure he had feelings for her either. She wouldn't stress herself out over it. She'd just wait and see what happened. If she did have feelings for him, she'd figure it out. Likewise, if he had feelings for her, she'd figure that out too. But for now, that wasn't important. She wanted to spend time with Chrona, and Goddammit, that's what she would do.

That's what she told herself, but she wasn't a fool, she knew the answers. She knew, way deep deep deep down, she did have feelings for Chrona. She'd never really acknowledged them until now, which surprised her, which is why she decided to not worry about it. Also, when she took a step back and looked at it from a third party's point of view, it became painfully obvious. Chrona was, as Blair had said, coo-coo for coco puffs about her.

It always kind of bothered her when people said such things like 'If you like someone, you should tell them!' Like... why? Was it not enough to just enjoy having someone around? Was it not enough to just take pleasure in someone's company? Was being friends not enough? Why was everyone so obsessed with being more than friends? Just because you could, doesn't mean you have to. Feelings always had a way of fucking everything up. She'd learned that a long time ago, when her parents divorced. She could imagine herself just hugging Chrona, cuddling with him, holding him, and she'd be happy with that. If they were meant to be, then they'd figure it out later. Why did people insist on making things more complicated than they needed to be?

No, no, stop, you're doing it again. Today is a good day, remember? Think of your photo album!

That's right, she needed to stop. She could just be happy knowing that Chrona returned her feelings, and be satisfied from that, and move on. She need not worry about something that, a few hours ago, wasn't even on her mind. However...

She felt her inner bitch resurfacing.

She couldn't suppress the idea of taking this new found knowledge and using it for her own sick pleasure. Calling it a sick pleasure made it sound naughty, which it wasn't, but she still felt like it was mean. There was just something about the idea of teasing Chrona, in a similar way that she had teased Soul, that really was appealing to her. Making him blush, seeing the look on his face, reading his emotions as she touched him...

No, no, bad Maka! Doing that to Soul was mean. Doing that to Chrona was just cruel. Chrona was alot more delicate than Soul, and Lord knows he'd be quick to panic. No, no, no teasing Chrona.

Well... at least not as bad as she teased Soul.

...

Fo whatever Godforsaken reason, Soul had not been able to get the events of this morning out of his mind. He didn't know why, as he didn't really have strong feelings about it either way. He was neither really happy, nor really upset about what Maka had done. No, it was more that he was trying to figure out why she did it.

At first, he was sure that she had no idea what she was doing. Clearly, she had gotten so used to being flat chested, she didn't even realize that her breasts had come it. She was just trying to be affectionate and ease away the awkwardness of his morning wood by nuzzling him, innocently, and had not even realized that her now very present breasts were right in his face.

It shocked him, and threw him off for a number of reasons. One reason being, while he could confidently say that he did not harbor any romantic feelings for Maka, she was still a woman, and he was still a man. It excited him, physically. That, in turn, made him feel awful, because her actions were innocent and his pants were getting tighter because of them. It wasn't cool. It really wasn't cool. It made him feel like a creep.

However, it didn't take him long after that to realize that her actions actually were not innocent at all. That threw him off even more. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was teasing him. He never thought he would ever see the day where Maka would tease him sexually, and succeed. He was aroused. Confused and embarrassed, but definitely aroused. He didn't want to be aroused, but there was not really much he could do about that. Maka was attractive. Just because he didn't have feelings for her, didn't mean he was blind to her looks. She had always been cute, but now that she had bloomed...

All in all, he was in a position that he did not want to be in. In that moment, his brain and his dick were arguing about whether they wanted her to stop what she was doing or not. His brain feared what would happen if she continued, while his dick wanted to find out. And he didn't like it one bit. He didn't know what she planned to do, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore the tent in his pants. Oh God, and when she leaned in against him...

And then she just got up, like it was nothing. She got him all worked up and then left him with nothing. He was left all hot and bothered and confused and frustrated, and his brain realized that maybe his dick was right about wanting to know what would've happened if she'd kept going. It certainly couldn't be any worse than being left cold after a build up like that.

After he'd had a change to cool off, he addressed the issue of figuring out why she did it. Did she have feelings for him? Because that would make things all kinds of awkward. He saw her as his best friend, like a twin sister almost. What he had with Maka was good, and romantic feelings would probably complicate that real quick like.

Actually... it may or may not. He didn't really know. On one hand, there were the obvious reasons why they would, but on the other hand, it probably wouldn't change anything. He wasn't sure.

Realistically, he had thought about it alot, and while he didn't have feelings for Maka, he would not exactly be opposed to friends with benefits type relationship with her. It was weird, because he loved her like she was his twin sister, while still keeping in mind that they were not actually siblings. She was attractive, and it's not like he was really interested in anyone else. He wasn't going to attempt to pursue that kind of relationship with her, but if, for some reason, it arose, he would be open to discussing it. Most people at the academy already thought they were banging constantly anyway.

But he quickly realized that he would not have to worry about all that after all. It finally donned on him what her true intentions were, and he felt like a fool. Maka didn't have feelings for him. She was teaching him a lesson.

Yes, that's what it was. Of course. He had spent so much time teasing her when they were younger, that was her revenge. That was her way of saying 'How do you like me now, bitch?' He had always told her that no one wanted someone with such small breasts, he'd said he would never settle for such a flat chested girl like her. He wasn't proud of how bad he had teased her, but she sure got him good this morning. She made him eat his own words, and they tasted bitter.

"Soul?" He hadn't even realized anyone was talking until Tsubaki addressed him directly. "You seem occupied. Something on your mind?"

He realized they were all staring at him. How long had he not been paying attention? Last he remembered before zoning out, they were all sitting at a table in the lunch room and Black Star was going on about how great he was.

Should he share what he had really ben thinking about? Would Maka get mad at him if he did? Was that appropriate to talk about with there friends? It probably wasn't...

But he couldn't help it, he had to vent, at least alittle.

"Maka really got my ass good this morning."

This comment took them all by surprise. He could tell because of all the confused and shocked faces he got.

"What are you talking about?" Black Star asked.

This was probably a bad idea. As soon as he said it, he regretted it. But it was already out, so there was no going back. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Don't tell her I told you guys, she would kick my ass."

Suddenly they were very interested in what he had to say. Black Star, Liz and Patti all leaned forward with wide eyes. Tsubaki perked up, instantly forgetting about the spoon full of soup she had in her hand. Kidd didn't react too much, but Soul had his attention. Chrona looked at him with a very strange look, like he was scared, but at the same time giving the impressed that he might get angry.

"Dish, dish, dish, what happened?" Liz asked. Soul might've figured the girls would be interested in some gossip. He was not at all the gossipy type, the only reason he was sharing this was because he was so put off about it. He wanted a second opinion.

"Okay, well let me start by saying that I am not at all proud of how bad I used to make fun of Maka." That was the only sentence he could get out before Liz and Patti both starting giggling. "What is so Goddamn funny?"

"She totally seduced you, didn't she?!" Liz said, a big smug grin on both her face and her sister's face. At the word seduce, Tsubaki's jaw dropped, her face reddening. Kidd's eyes widened. Black Star's brows knit together, reading pure shock. Chrona's expression went from that weird scared look, to threatening. He didn't move, but his eyes were piercing and Soul knew he had to take back control of this conversation.

"No, no, no, don't do that." He said. "That's not... exactly what happened."

Aw, shit, that's exactly what happened. How the fuck did they know? So not cool.

"Oh my God, she did!" It was Patti that spoke this time. "You're blushing, she totally did!"

Liz looked to Tsubaki, who sat next to her. "Our baby is grown up."

Soul tried, once again, to regain control of the conversation, but Ragnarok took the reins before Soul could get them. "I knew it!" He burst forth from Chrona's back faster than Soul had ever seen him do it. "Didn't I tell you!" He yanked Chrona's hair harshly. "I told you she was a fucking slut!"

The girls' attitudes all went from smug to enraged. All seven of them, including Chrona, looked at the little weapon furiously.

"Excuse me?!"

"How dare you!"

"Don't talk about her like that!"

This chorus of attacks didn't discourage him. "Oh, come on. I can't honestly be the only one who realized those tits are fake. She's totally turned into a slut. You're all stupid not to see it. She's been walking around in those shorty shorts, she's been giving Chrona bedroom eyes since she got here, she sure as hell was quick to pull her shirt down for everyone to see what was underneath it, not to mention yesterday when she got naked in front of us and was grabbing onto Chrona and pulling him up against her and-"

He was cut short when Chrona's fist connected with his jaw, rather violently, sending him bending backward at an unnatural looking angle. This startled all of them, but they soon recognized that it was probably an appropriate reaction. Chrona's eyes were hidden by his bangs, but what they could see of his face was beat red. When he spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically low and threatening. "Shut up, Ragnarok."

The weapon seemed the most shocked of all of them. Chrona had never really spoke to him like that before. And that punch was more deliberate and coordinated than he was used to from Chrona. He turned his head and huffed, and before disappearing into his back, added, "Whatever, I'm not wrong."

Soul knew he shouldn't have brought this up. He would never have predicted the conversation taking this particular turn, but he shouldn't foreseen something going wrong. The air was tense now, uncomfortable. He wished he'd never said anything.

It was Black Star who broke the awkward silence. "Maka got naked in front of you?"

Soul should've expected as much from the blue haired idiot. Tsubaki smacked him in the shoulder, silently alerting him that he wasn't helping.

"I think what Ragnarok was referring to, was yesterday when Maka was leaning against me while Kim _stitched her back up_, and she was trying not to _cry_ from how much _pain_ she was in. Her shirt happened to be off, yes. What he _failed_ to mention, however, was the blanket pulled up to her shoulders." Chrona's voice was very cross. He still hadn't looked at any of them, but they could all sense his discomfort and anger. Chrona made the executive decision to lie just alittle bit about the events of the previous day. It wasn't even lying, so much as conveniently forgetting to mention a few details. And Ragnarok dare not come out again and try and argue with him.

"That was nice of you to be there for her." Tsubaki said in an attempt to ease the tension. Chrona finally looked up, but Soul wished he hadn't. He looked, not angry exactly, but something about him seemed threatening. He's eyes had a haunted, almost empty look to them. He couldn't understand why though.

"So, Soul," Patti said. Even she was desperate for the tension to break. "What were you saying about Maka seducing you?"

"Goddammit, will you stop?!" Soul said. He felt her way of wording it was absolutely not helping the situation. He very much regretted saying anything, but he couldn't just stop now, with the impression they seemed to have. "It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" Liz asked, though her tone told him that she didn't believe him.

"Well, she came into my room last night, crying." He felt that didn't really have anything to do with it, but the mention of Maka crying was enough to prevent them from being so smug again. All three girls cooed with sympathy and concern and Chrona seemed to relax, ever so slightly. Soul was growing more and more aware of how uncomfortable Chrona was making him. Just the look in his eyes...

"Then what?" Patti pressed.

"I don't know what she was upset about, if she had a nightmare or if she was in pain or what, but I just... held her until she fell asleep." He was going on about things that they didn't need to know, he knew this, but he knew it was hard for girls to be suggestive while hearing about one of their own crying herself to sleep. They 'aww'ed and smiled and said how cute it was that he would do that for her.

Chrona, however, was a different story. He did not at all seemed pleased with the turn the conversation had taken. The haunting looked returned to his eyes, and Soul felt like he was analyzing every word he spoke. Chrona was anxious, it was clear in his rigid pose. Soul couldn't understand why, though.

He sighed. He wasn't comfortable talking about this anymore. "You know what, never mind. I don't know that I want talk about it anymore."

Tsubaki and the Thompsons whined and pouted. "Just tell us!"

"We won't poke fun, we promise!"

"You can't leave us with just that, what happened?"

Goddammit, why were chicks so interested in other people's personal stuff?

Or at least, that's what he thought, until he realized that Black Star and Kidd were staring at him with just as much interest as the girls, they just weren't vocalizing it. Chrona was staring at him as well, but with that look...

Soul sighed again. "The only reason I wanted to tell guys was to get a second opinion-"

"We can do that!"

"We can _totally_ do that!"

"Teeeell us."

He was beginning to realize that he'd dug his own grave. He wasn't walking away from this without sharing at least something with these gossip hungry females. He knew he should've just kept his mouth shut.

Just get it over with.

"Basically, what happened was..." How should he even word it? "She... brought to my attention the fact that she was no longer physically immature, in a very... risqué manor."

Kidd was the only one who seemed to understand what he meant. A very small, amused smile graced his lips, signaling to Soul that he knew what he was talking about.

Only Kidd, though. Everyone else seemed to not be keeping up.

"Cut the fancy talk shit, just tell us what she did!" Patti said, her voice growing anxious.

Soul couldn't help but laugh alittle. Looked like he was just going to have to blunt. "Okay, you said you promised not to poke fun, right?"

"Right, of course, we would never."

"I'm a man. It was the morning. I'd just woken up." That's all he said, hoping they would understand.

Black Star was the one to understand first. He laughed. "Dude, did you have morning wood?!"

The girls all smiled smugly, Tsubaki turned red.

"Hey, I can't control that shit."

"Was Maka still in your bed?" Black Star pressed.

"Well, yeah, she fell asleep in there-"

"Oh my God, I get it." Liz finally said, a knowing smirk on her face. "She 'teased' you, didn't she? She got you all horny and then left you with nothing, didn't she?"

Soul didn't know whether he appreciated her bluntness or not. On one hand, now he didn't have to say it. On the other hand, it was still weird. All his friends, even Kidd, were looking at him with smug grins. All, except Chrona. His face was anything but smug.

For the sake of moving this conversation along until it was over, Soul decided to ignore Chrona as best he could. He turned his attention back to Liz. "... Yeah."

All three girls, and Black Star too even, were suddenly in a tizzy. They were saying things, but Soul couldn't understand them, they were speaking all at once.

"So, Soul," Kidd spoke finally. "You said you wanted a second opinion about something?"

"Oh yeah." He'd almost forgotten. "Well, personally, I think that, that was probably her way of getting back at me for teasing her for so long-"

Liz interjected. "Oh, that's exactly what it was, she knew exactly what she was doing."

"She was probably like 'How you like these tiny titties now, bitch?!'" Patti added, followed but a string of giggles. Tsubaki and Black Star also laughed.

"If I may, I'm actually alittle surprised by how rapidly her chest grew." Kidd said. "I'm not at all an expert on female development, but... _damn_."

"Yeah, seriously, where'd those things even come from?" Black Star added. Slowly, his eyes widened and he gasped. "Could she really have gotten a boob job?"

"No, she didn't get a damn boob job." Soul said hotly.

"How the hell do you know?"

"Because they were in my face this morning."

Another silence settled over the table immediately. It wasn't awkward though. It was comical. Soul and Black Star stared at each other until they all burst into a chorus of laughter.

All, except Chrona.

They weren't laughing at Maka, as one might think had they not known the details of their conversation, they were mainly laughing at Soul. They all knew he had been strung along by the same girl whom he'd told would never be attractive. It was funny. Soul laughed too, because he'd learned his lesson the hard way. And it's not cool to not laugh at yourself.

"Oh man, our baby is all grown up." Liz said as her laugher subsided. She looked at her sister, who sat next to her, to say something, but saw that she was looking straight forward, past their friends, at something on the far side of the room. She followed her line of sight and saw immediately what she was looking at. Her jaw dropped. "Holy shit."

At this seemingly random comment, the other's turned to see as well. There seating arrangement was Soul, Black Star and Tsubaki on one side, and Chrona, Kidd, Liz and Patti on the other. Soul, Black Star and Tsubaki had to turn around to see what the other's seemed to already see. Even Chrona seemed to perk up instantly.

They spotted Maka, who was walking down the hall, towards them, along side Stein. They seemed to being having a friendly conversation. She had not yet noticed her friends, but they all had seen her.

And speaking of boobs, God_damn_.

She had a tote bag on her shoulder and a Deathbucks cup in her hand. In her other arm was a large book, it looked like. It didn't look anything like the kind of books she normally read.

She seemed to finish whatever thing she was saying to Stein, because he soon headed off in another direction, leaving her alone and looking around the large room for them. "Maka!" Patti shouted, waving her arms over her head. "Over here!"

Maka whipped her head in the direction of Patti's voice and spotted them. She smiled brightly and waved back, and began to make her way over to them.

She almost seemed to be going in slow motion. The shirt she wore allowed a little bit of skin to show through on her tummy, making it easy to see her toned muscles move with each step. Her hair flowed gracefully as she flipped her head to get it out of her face. And Soul couldn't help but take notice to how her hips moved alot more than they used to. Little Maka was definitely all grown up. He could almost smell all the male attention she was already receiving, even after just two minutes of being here. He didn't like it. His protective twin brother side was coming out.

Oh, it was going to be a long day. And he'd probably get into a fight before it was over.

**...**

**-Phew- No mentions of Medusa in this chapter, but just you wait.**

**Alright, my dearly beloved readers, I ask of you to be honest with me. How am I doing? Am I keeping your attention? I know not alot has happened yet in the way of the plot, but bare with me, I have much in store for you.**


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